Nearly 100 years after its establishment, the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s mandate of promoting social justice through decent work for all seems to remain today as relevant as ever. However, the ILO is currently facing unprecedented challenges, in particular with regard to a certain preference for the adoption of soft law instruments by the ILO’s constituents over the past 20 years, a nearly unmanageable workload for its supervisory system in charge of monitoring the application of international labour standards as well as an institutional crisis that unfolded in 2012 but for which the substantive questions seem to be still largely unresolved. It is against this tense and complex background that the ILO is currently trying to reposition itself, in particular in the context of a global reflection on the future of work. This article attempts to shed light on the immediate challenges faced by the ILO, those illustrating the difficulties of the traditional ILO tripartite constituents to reach consensus on standards-related issues, as well as the mid- and long-term challenges, including those linked to the interpretation of labour standards and the fact that these standards are being used by an increasing variety of actors. The key question will be to reflect on whether the institution in its next centenary can remain a place of dialogue, where views can be exchanged and decisions taken and in which its stakeholders can continue to pursue their mission of decent work for all.