He has  been  with  the  ILO  since  1996.  He  served  as Deputy  Director-General  and  Executive  Director  from  1996  to  2010.  Since October 2010, he has been Special Adviser to the Director-General of the ILO. Before joining the Office Mr. 

Tapiola  was  a  member  of  the  ILO’s  Governing  Body,  representing  the  Nordic  Workers,  for  five  years.  He  attended  his  first  International Labour Conference as a Workers' delegate of Finland in 1974. In the Conferences 1991-1996, he was Workers' Vice-President of the Resolutions Committee.

Mr. Tapiola worked in Finland as a journalist (1966-1972) and as the Political Secretary of the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1972.  He  was  International Secretary of the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) in 1972-1976;

Special Assistant to the Executive Director of the United Nations Centre on  Transnational  Corporations  (New  York)  in  1976-1978;  and  General Secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD (Paris) in  1978-1985.  In  1985  he  became  Information  Director of  SAK  in  Finland, moving  on  to  International  Affairs  Director  in  1988  up  to  the  beginning  of  his assignment with the ILO.

In his professional life Mr.  Tapiola  has  especially  dealt  with  questions  of international  labour  standards  and  fundamental  principles  and  rights  at  work, multinational  enterprises,  the  social  and  labour  effects  of  globalization, technological change and industrial relations, and the social and labour issues in countries in transition.