International seminar "Labour informality: challenges posed by technological change, territorial inequality and the need for social protection"

Rapid technological progress has changed Latin American societies and labour markets profoundly. It has facilitated the expansion of new business models, mainly those related to services mediated by digital platforms. This includes web-based work, where a platform intermediates between the worker and the employer, who can be anywhere in the world, and location-based work. Although the latter has generated many employment possibilities mainly in large cities, the jobs in question lack a standard employment relationship and thus access to social protection. Similarly, technological advances have impacted the daily work of many occupations, transforming the worker skills that are most highly valued. In this context, the workers who are most adaptable and have greatest access to technology and digital skills will benefit the most.

These changes are occurring in societies in which labour informality is a structural phenomenon, where many workers lack the minimum conditions of decent jobs (no employment contracts, no health or pension coverage or other social protection services). The phenomenon of informality cuts across the axes of social inequality in the region, giving rise to significant gender, ethnic and racial, age and, especially, territorial inequalities.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has hastened these changes and, unless rapid action is taken, there is a risk that the gaps that already exist will widen. In the next few years, governments must prepare to build a solid institutional framework that will enable them to take advantage of technological progress to promote decent work and reduce inequality.

Objective: The seminar aims to promote regional and interregional dialogue, based on the main findings of the project “Technological transformations in Latin America: promoting productive jobs and confronting the challenge of new forms of informal employment”, which has been implemented in seven Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico and Uruguay), identifying policy recommendations and key milestones for implementation.

https://www.cepal.org/en/technological-transformations-latin-america-productive-jobs