Persistent unemployment, underemployment, and precarious work are structural features of contemporary economies, contributing to poverty, inequality, and social exclusion even in contexts of economic growth. At the same time, significant unmet social and environmental needs—ranging from care deficits to climate adaptation—coexist with underutilized labour. These dynamics reflect a systemic failure to ensure the right to work and to organize labour toward socially useful purposes. They also expose the limits of growth-dependent development models, which often fail to deliver stable, inclusive, and sustainable livelihoods. An Employment Guarantee (EG) addresses these challenges by establishing a public commitment to provide access to decent, paid work for all individuals able and willing to work, with the State acting as employer of last resort. . The policy sets a living wage floor, strengthens labour standards, and directs labour toward socially and ecologically useful activities defined at the local level . While the full realization of a rights-based guarantee is progressive, practical models already exist across diverse contexts. India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has generated billions of days of work, especially for disadvantaged groups, while reducing poverty and supporting rural development. Initiatives such as the Marienthal programme in Austria, France’s Territoires Zéro Chômeur de Longue Durée, Argentina’s Plan Jefes y Jefas de Hogar Desocupados and South Africa’s Social Employment Fund demonstrate the feasibility of locally anchored public employment schemes in both high- and middle-income settings. The significance of an EG lies in its ability to transform access to work from a policy objective into an enforceable right, while redistributing income, strengthening workers’ bargaining power, and fostering social inclusion. By acting as an automatic stabilizer, it enhances macroeconomic stability without relying on growth alone. At the same time, by prioritizing care and support systems, environmental restoration, and circular economy activities, it supports a just social-ecological transition and reduces dependence on carbon-intensive development pathways. As part of a broader policy mix, including income support measures, an EG enables governments to meet human needs directly, expand economic security, and reorient economies toward sustainability and equity beyond the imperatives of GDP growth.
