More than 26 million unemployed in Latin America and the Caribbean: the need for new engines of growth

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José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs
is Regional Director of the ILO for Latin America and the Caribbean

In 2017, labour markets in Latin America and the Caribbean are marked by a new increase in unemployment and worsening working conditions. As the year progresses, the indicators and forecasts confirm that the labour situation is becoming more worrisome. The latest forecasts already announce a weak economic recovery this year after last year’s contraction. This slow economic growth, of barely 1.1 per cent for Latin America and the Caribbean, will not be enough to change the negative trends in the world of work.

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Who’s job is it to take out the digital trash?

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Dorothea Hoehtker is a senior researcher at the ILO RESEARCH department

How do Facebook, Instagram and other social media sites protect you, the consumer, from disturbing content on the web? Many of us think our computers’ sophisticated algorithms perform such constant editing, but algorithms are not able to make subtle distinctions, e.g. between art and pornography. Rather, technology companies rely on people to do this work. They are the so-called Commercial Content Moderators (CCM).
While CCMs remain largely invisible, some scholars, journalists and artists have started to bring attention to this workforce and the toll editing the Internet takes on them.

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What does it mean to be LGBTI in 2017?

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Afsar Syed Mohammad, Senior Technical Specialist, Gender Equality, Diversity and ILOAIDS

Neline M., who works for an American multinational company in Geneva, Switzerland, considers herself lucky to be working for a company that does not discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) employees. After her partner was transferred to Geneva, she informed her HR manager about her relationship and requested a transfer to Geneva. Her company accepted the request under its “dual career” policy, which acknowledges LGBTI couples.
More companies, and many governments, could do a better job improving the laws, policies and working conditions for LGBTI employees, studies find.

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