Public Employment Services Role in Overcoming COVID-19 Crisis, and the Future of Work
On 23 July, the ILO Moscow launched a new series of webinars devoted to the PES Role in Overcoming the COVID-19 Crisis and the Future of Work. The webinar was attended by about 70 representatives of Labour Ministries, workers and employers’ organizations, public em-ployment services, research community and UN agencies from 10 countries served by the ILO Moscow Office.
The series started with an Introductory Module that provided the participants with an overview of the planned ILO Moscow PES online training course, giving an opportunity to learn about how the employment services and active labour market programs can be adapted and adjusted to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
In his opening speech, Mikhail Pouchkin, Sr. Employment Specialist of the ILO Moscow Of-fice, stressed the relevance of the initiative in view of design and implementation of a systematic training of PES staff covering all the issues related to core services and active labour market programmes. He also described the political context in the countries of Eastern Europe and Cen-tral Asia, and highlighted the role of PES in addressing the future of work challenges in the la-bour market. The training event, and the PES and Future of Work Manual are designed to pro-vide useful guidance and inspiration to existing PES services and stimulate thinking around fu-ture innovations.
Ms Ruth Santos, ILO international expert, specifically mentioned the lessons learnt from the previous economic crisis, and the PES role in the COVID-19 economic crisis response. PES need to respond quickly to changes, and remain in constant contact with all groups, including enterprises and self-employed. Particularly important is support to jobseekers on providing in-come support and social protection. More than 10 country examples and good practices were introduced in relation to the PES operations.
Ms Helen Metcalfe, ILO international expert, introduced the PES and the Future of Work Man-ual training tool. The PES training will focus on specific topics covered in the PES Regional Training Manual, such as i) services for jobseekers in order to support people to fulfil their po-tential; ii) services for employers aimed at promoting sustainable enterprises; iii) services for disadvantaged groups, e.g. young people, in view of creating inclusive labour markets, and iv) partnerships for employment promotion.
The online training for PES in the CIS countries will resume in September 2020. It will include a series of five webinars, as well as independent learning, self-assessment and peer-to- peer ex-change. The content of the online training will be primarily based on the PES Regional Training Manual, prepared by the project “Partnerships for Youth Employment in the CIS”, implemented in partnership with the Russian company LUKOIL.
In his opening speech, Mikhail Pouchkin, Sr. Employment Specialist of the ILO Moscow Of-fice, stressed the relevance of the initiative in view of design and implementation of a systematic training of PES staff covering all the issues related to core services and active labour market programmes. He also described the political context in the countries of Eastern Europe and Cen-tral Asia, and highlighted the role of PES in addressing the future of work challenges in the la-bour market. The training event, and the PES and Future of Work Manual are designed to pro-vide useful guidance and inspiration to existing PES services and stimulate thinking around fu-ture innovations.
Ms Ruth Santos, ILO international expert, specifically mentioned the lessons learnt from the previous economic crisis, and the PES role in the COVID-19 economic crisis response. PES need to respond quickly to changes, and remain in constant contact with all groups, including enterprises and self-employed. Particularly important is support to jobseekers on providing in-come support and social protection. More than 10 country examples and good practices were introduced in relation to the PES operations.
Ms Helen Metcalfe, ILO international expert, introduced the PES and the Future of Work Man-ual training tool. The PES training will focus on specific topics covered in the PES Regional Training Manual, such as i) services for jobseekers in order to support people to fulfil their po-tential; ii) services for employers aimed at promoting sustainable enterprises; iii) services for disadvantaged groups, e.g. young people, in view of creating inclusive labour markets, and iv) partnerships for employment promotion.
The online training for PES in the CIS countries will resume in September 2020. It will include a series of five webinars, as well as independent learning, self-assessment and peer-to- peer ex-change. The content of the online training will be primarily based on the PES Regional Training Manual, prepared by the project “Partnerships for Youth Employment in the CIS”, implemented in partnership with the Russian company LUKOIL.