Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV on Thursday called on employment consultants to remain close to families and vulnerable workers, urging them to safeguard human dignity in the workplace and to strengthen efforts to prevent accidents and fatalities on the job.
Addressing members of the Italian Order of Employment Consultants at the Vatican, the Pope highlighted the social responsibility carried by their profession, particularly as Italy marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the professional register for employment consultants. The audience brought together experts who advise companies on hiring practices, labour regulations, social security, and employment law.
In his address, Pope Leo XIV stressed that work must always serve the human person, not the other way around. Drawing on the teachings of Pope Francis and Saint John Paul II, he insisted that neither capital nor market logic should dominate the workplace.
“At the heart of every working relationship,” he said, “there must not be profit or market laws, but the human person, the family, and their well-being.” Everything else, he added, must remain secondary to these priorities.
The Pope encouraged consultants to pay particular attention to the needs of young families, parents raising small children, and workers who carry the added responsibility of caring for elderly or sick relatives. These situations, he said, require sensitivity and concrete support, noting that no truly civilized society can afford to overlook such realities.
Pope Leo XIV also reflected on the growing influence of technology and artificial intelligence in professional life. While acknowledging their role in shaping modern work environments, he warned against allowing technological systems to overshadow human values.
“In a context where technology increasingly manages and conditions our activities,” he said, “it is essential that companies remain human and fraternal communities.” Employment consultants, he added, are well placed to help ensure that innovation does not come at the expense of compassion, fairness, and respect for workers’ lives.
A significant portion of the Pope’s address focused on workplace safety, an area in which employment consultants play a direct role through training and formation programs. Pope Leo lamented that accidents and deaths at work remain far too common, calling the situation a moral and social failure.
“Places meant to be spaces of life where people spend much of their day and invest their energy too often become places of death and suffering,” he said.
Quoting Pope Francis, the Pope recalled that workplace safety is often taken for granted until tragedy strikes. “Safety at work is like the air we breathe,” he noted, “we only realize its importance when it is tragically missing and by then it is too late.”
He praised consultants for their preventive work, emphasizing that education and training are essential tools in saving lives. “Preventing is better than curing,” he said, urging them to persevere in this vital mission.
Pope Leo XIV also highlighted the mediating role employment consultants play between employers and employees. By handling legal and administrative matters that deeply affect workers and their families, consultants shape the daily reality of countless lives.
However, he warned against two dangers: excessive bureaucratization and detachment from real human situations. Citing Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, he said both tendencies can poison the work environment and prevent companies from becoming spaces of cooperation and mutual support.
The Pope encouraged consultants not to approach their work solely from the employer’s viewpoint but to remain attentive to the people they serve especially those who struggle to make their voices heard or defend their rights.
Concluding his address, Pope Leo XIV invited employment consultants to see their profession as a service rooted in justice and charity. By standing close to workers and families in difficulty, he said, they can help ensure that the world of work becomes more humane, safe, and supportive.
“This attention to the weakest,” the Pope said, “is a great act of justice and love,” reaffirming the Church’s vision of work as a path to dignity, solidarity, and shared well-being.