The labor market occupies an important place in the conditions of modern development of economic relations. It is an element of the economic system and the welfare of the nation, social stability and effectiveness of social and economic transformations depend on the results of its functioning. The problems of labor market functioning, employment and unemployment are among the most important socio-economic problems. Insufficient theoretical study of the problem and its huge practical importance determined the relevance of the research. The article analyzes scientific and methodological approaches to the formation of the mechanisms of labor market functioning in the world. The article considers its particularity as a market, where a special commodity ‒ workforce ‒ is sold and bought. The role of the state in the creation and regulation of the labor market is researched. The great opportunities and prospects for fuller human self-realization, which the labor market provides, with the application of the new system of recruitment, are shown. To achieve the goal of the study, the following tasks were set and solved: the basic concepts of the international labor market were examined; the description of the international labor market with the history of its issue was given; the principles of its functioning were formulated; the system of basic indicators of the population`s economic activity, labor supply and demand, as well as the international labor market conditions were formed; the issues of statistical monitoring of international labor market functioning were reviewed; the main trends in the development of the international labor market were identified and the degree of individual factors` influence on them was determined by regression analysis models.