Guy Ryder

Guy Ryder was elected  Director-General, International Labour Organization, by the ILO’s Governing Body in 2012 and took office in October that year.  He was re-elected for a second term which started on 1 October 2017. Guy Ryder is committed to promoting decent work for all and to working through tripartism and social dialogue to make a positive difference in the working lives of people everywhere including and particularly in the lives of the most vulnerable.   

The ILO celebrated its centenary in 2019 and Guy Ryder was instrumental in setting the Future of Work as the defining theme of the centenary to position the organization to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Under his leadership, the Global Commission on the Future of Work was established in 2017.  Subsequently, the International Labour Conference adopted the Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work in 2019. The Declaration, centred on the Organization’s founding values, drives the promotion of a present and future of work that is fair and just by actively shaping the new forces impacting on the world of work. Guy Ryder collaborates closely with the UN System to support global efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.  In the social and economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, Guy Ryder is engaged in working with the ILO’s Members and in partnership with the multilateral system and other relevant parties, to apply the principles of the Centenary Declaration in the response to the crisis as well as to the challenge of recovery.

Guy Ryder joined the ILO in 1998 as Director of the Bureau for Workers’ Activities and, from 1999, as Director of the Office of the Director-General. In 2002, he was appointed General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). He was elected as first General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) when it was created in 2006.  In 2010, Guy Ryder came back to the ILO as Executive Director.  Born in Liverpool (UK) in 1956, Guy Ryder studied Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge and Latin American Studies at the University of Liverpool.

The ILO is a tripartite organization comprising governments and representatives of employers and workers.