Actuality. The crisis caused by the COVID pandemic and the escalation of the armed conflict in Ukraine has drawn attention to the fact that public administration is in dire need of reform. Public institutions have to cope with governance in 'crisis mode', which implies institutional reform as well as a review of working and governance practices. The current situation calls for new proposals for reforms in employment, which include, among others, digitalisation and a fundamental reassessment of labour recruitment and the forms of employment used. In this context, the use of flexible forms of employment such as remote (mobile) employment based on information and communication technology (ICT), Internet employment, employment on digital platforms become relevant. The use of new flexible forms of employment may have a lasting impact on the transformation of perceptions of standard employment, and in particular on a number of aspects such as recruitment and work organization, working conditions, job definition, etc. In addition, an increase in the number of persons working outside employers' premises using information and communication devices and technologies mitigates the risks of social devaluation of the workforce under the threat of epidemics, pandemics, the need for worker self-isolation in case of a threat of armed aggression, an emergency of man-made, natural or other nature. Objective. To outline the strategic directions of employment reforms that will ensure the complementary unity of workers' and employers' strategies under the conditions of global instability. Research methods: system analysis, factor and comparative analysis, structural and functional analysis, method of statistical groupings, hierarchy analysis, expert assessments and other methods. Results. Providing recommendations for identifying strategic employment policies that will ensure the complementary unity of workers' and employers' strategies in the context of global instability