AIOE annual general meeting
By adopting responsible business practices employers stand to gain a lot
In a statement at the 84th annual general meeting of All India Organization of Employers, Director ILO India, Dagmar Walter talks of employers’ role enabling a green economy, empowering the youth for future jobs, and creating a world of work that is inclusive, and progressive.
Good afternoon esteemed members of employers’ organizations, colleagues and friends,
We are living in interesting times. Our world of work is rapidly evolving – with changes in employment patterns and relations, technological advancements, climate change, globalization and even the governance of work.
ILO is fast-approaching its 100th year. In the formative years of the ILO, there was keen appreciation of the importance of social justice in securing peace, against a background of exploitation of workers in the industrializing nations of that time. From then to now – in these astonishing 100 year journey - we have together responded to the needs of people everywhere for decent work.
As employers, workers and the government – we continue to set labour standards, formulate international policies and programmes, provide training solutions, education and research and implement projects across the globe. Our commitment is unflinching that is to enhance decent employment opportunities. The ILO is progressively taking steps to ensure that the future world of work is sustainable, just and peaceful.
Yesterday, we released our flagship report ‘World Employment and Social Outlook 2018: Greening with jobs’. I urge you all to have a look at it.
The employment projections in this report suggest that the net effect on job numbers will be positive. In India, the transition to a green economy will inevitably cause job losses in certain sectors as carbon- and resource-intensive industries are scaled down, but these will be more than offset by new job opportunities. Measures taken in the production and use of energy, for example, will lead to job losses of around 259,000 jobs, as well as in the creation of around 3.0 million jobs. The net increase of approximately 2.8 million jobs will be the result of the adoption of sustainable practices, including changes in the energy mix, the projected growth in the use of electric vehicles, and increases in energy efficiency in existing and future buildings. Regarding the sectoral impact with 1.5 million jobs created in the renewables. This overall net jobs benefit comes with sectoral differences, in the case of India, all the sectors except the mining industry will experience an increase in employment. For example, 1.5 million jobs are expected to be created in the renewables sector, 466,200 jobs will be created in the construction and 285,200 new jobs are expected in the services. In order to ensure a just transition, efforts to promote the green economy must be accompanied by policies that facilitate the reallocation of workers, advance decent work, offer local solutions and support displaced workers.
Globally 24 million jobs will be created by 2030. Right policies and practices will enable this transition to a greener economy. As employers – there is a definitive role to play. By adopting responsible business practices – embedding Environment, Social and Governance parameters in the heart of businesses – we stand to gain a lot.
Let me here now bring in the India Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) for 2018-2022, which is currently being finalized. It will provide us a framework to focus on some key issues in the world of work in the next five years. First, I am very grateful for your participation in the discussions along with government and worker representatives. In the DWCP we have identified the overarching agenda of promoting quality jobs, the transition to formal employment and looking at a greener world of work. We also have to actively target the youth, women and the disadvantaged groups in all our areas of work.
When it comes to the youth – we often tend to talk of acquiring skills in crude terms that is gaining a set of qualifications leading to employment. But are we also taking into account how to instill qualities of adaptability, empathy and intellectual caliber among the youth to learn new skills. Employers’ organizations must now articulate skill requirements for tomorrow’s businesses. Today, more than ever, learning takes place in all sorts of informal settings, including online. Cognitive abilities and complex problem-solving skills are increasingly becoming more important than physical strength or even technical skills. To find the right balance will be essential.
What is also needed is recognition of prior learning (RPL) and accrediting informally attained skills and learning, reinforcing the view that education should be continuous. Talking about skills from a life-cycle approach is constructive. As governments, workers and employers we are responsible to reskill, retrain, and invest in skill development for the future so that people continue to take advantage of emerging jobs throughout their careers.
Then we have to understand that India’s economy is largely informal and a striking feature of informality is its sheer diversity. For example: informal work can be subsistence farming, or doing home-based work, or waste-picking, or daily wage labour. These different forms of work occur outside the regulated labour market. In this respect, ILO’s Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation 204 is a comprehensive policy framework to address these challenges.
We are also discussing the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ which is characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital, and biological worlds, affecting all fields, economies, and industries. We are talking about disruptive technologies and consequently job losses. As work is becoming more fragmented and dispersed we are also discussing strained social relationships and networks.
The fourth industrial revolution is at its nascent stage. The degree to which this will truly change our lives is yet to be seen. The debate of technology creating or destroying jobs is ongoing. We should steer away from simplistic derivations of this emerging trend. Historically we know that over a period of time, new employment scenarios emerge and new kind of jobs are created. We have to be prepared to manage this and continue to focus on quality jobs, skilling, social protection systems, dialogue, and robust employment services.
The ILO with this regard has set up a 28-member global commission on the future of work. The commission will produce an independent report on how to achieve a future of work that is decent and sustainable. This report will be presented at the centenary International Labour Conference in 2019.
As the Director General of the ILO phrased it: “It is not technologies that will determine the future. It is how we manage those technologies for the best social advantage.”
I would like to end my speech by saying that employee-employer relations are now more critical than ever. We are going to see change but our responses to foster harmonious relations, while working towards lifelong employability, and creating meaningful jobs is what will steer our progress and relevance. I congratulate AIOE for having taken the initiative to present awards to the enterprises with the most outstanding industrial relations practices. Enterprises that have taken part in this initiative recognize the importance of linking industrial relations with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational culture. This provides a clear competitive advantage.
The importance of good Industrial Relations has been beautifully illustrated by E F Schumacher, who said: “If we cannot achieve a real meeting of minds with the people nearest to us in our daily lives, our existence becomes an agony and a disaster. In order to achieve it I must be able to gain knowledge of what it is like to be “you” and you must be able to gain knowledge of what it means to be like me”.
Thank you for your attention.
We are living in interesting times. Our world of work is rapidly evolving – with changes in employment patterns and relations, technological advancements, climate change, globalization and even the governance of work.
ILO is fast-approaching its 100th year. In the formative years of the ILO, there was keen appreciation of the importance of social justice in securing peace, against a background of exploitation of workers in the industrializing nations of that time. From then to now – in these astonishing 100 year journey - we have together responded to the needs of people everywhere for decent work.
As employers, workers and the government – we continue to set labour standards, formulate international policies and programmes, provide training solutions, education and research and implement projects across the globe. Our commitment is unflinching that is to enhance decent employment opportunities. The ILO is progressively taking steps to ensure that the future world of work is sustainable, just and peaceful.
Yesterday, we released our flagship report ‘World Employment and Social Outlook 2018: Greening with jobs’. I urge you all to have a look at it.
The employment projections in this report suggest that the net effect on job numbers will be positive. In India, the transition to a green economy will inevitably cause job losses in certain sectors as carbon- and resource-intensive industries are scaled down, but these will be more than offset by new job opportunities. Measures taken in the production and use of energy, for example, will lead to job losses of around 259,000 jobs, as well as in the creation of around 3.0 million jobs. The net increase of approximately 2.8 million jobs will be the result of the adoption of sustainable practices, including changes in the energy mix, the projected growth in the use of electric vehicles, and increases in energy efficiency in existing and future buildings. Regarding the sectoral impact with 1.5 million jobs created in the renewables. This overall net jobs benefit comes with sectoral differences, in the case of India, all the sectors except the mining industry will experience an increase in employment. For example, 1.5 million jobs are expected to be created in the renewables sector, 466,200 jobs will be created in the construction and 285,200 new jobs are expected in the services. In order to ensure a just transition, efforts to promote the green economy must be accompanied by policies that facilitate the reallocation of workers, advance decent work, offer local solutions and support displaced workers.
Globally 24 million jobs will be created by 2030. Right policies and practices will enable this transition to a greener economy. As employers – there is a definitive role to play. By adopting responsible business practices – embedding Environment, Social and Governance parameters in the heart of businesses – we stand to gain a lot.
Let me here now bring in the India Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) for 2018-2022, which is currently being finalized. It will provide us a framework to focus on some key issues in the world of work in the next five years. First, I am very grateful for your participation in the discussions along with government and worker representatives. In the DWCP we have identified the overarching agenda of promoting quality jobs, the transition to formal employment and looking at a greener world of work. We also have to actively target the youth, women and the disadvantaged groups in all our areas of work.
When it comes to the youth – we often tend to talk of acquiring skills in crude terms that is gaining a set of qualifications leading to employment. But are we also taking into account how to instill qualities of adaptability, empathy and intellectual caliber among the youth to learn new skills. Employers’ organizations must now articulate skill requirements for tomorrow’s businesses. Today, more than ever, learning takes place in all sorts of informal settings, including online. Cognitive abilities and complex problem-solving skills are increasingly becoming more important than physical strength or even technical skills. To find the right balance will be essential.
What is also needed is recognition of prior learning (RPL) and accrediting informally attained skills and learning, reinforcing the view that education should be continuous. Talking about skills from a life-cycle approach is constructive. As governments, workers and employers we are responsible to reskill, retrain, and invest in skill development for the future so that people continue to take advantage of emerging jobs throughout their careers.
Then we have to understand that India’s economy is largely informal and a striking feature of informality is its sheer diversity. For example: informal work can be subsistence farming, or doing home-based work, or waste-picking, or daily wage labour. These different forms of work occur outside the regulated labour market. In this respect, ILO’s Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation 204 is a comprehensive policy framework to address these challenges.
We are also discussing the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ which is characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital, and biological worlds, affecting all fields, economies, and industries. We are talking about disruptive technologies and consequently job losses. As work is becoming more fragmented and dispersed we are also discussing strained social relationships and networks.
The fourth industrial revolution is at its nascent stage. The degree to which this will truly change our lives is yet to be seen. The debate of technology creating or destroying jobs is ongoing. We should steer away from simplistic derivations of this emerging trend. Historically we know that over a period of time, new employment scenarios emerge and new kind of jobs are created. We have to be prepared to manage this and continue to focus on quality jobs, skilling, social protection systems, dialogue, and robust employment services.
The ILO with this regard has set up a 28-member global commission on the future of work. The commission will produce an independent report on how to achieve a future of work that is decent and sustainable. This report will be presented at the centenary International Labour Conference in 2019.
As the Director General of the ILO phrased it: “It is not technologies that will determine the future. It is how we manage those technologies for the best social advantage.”
I would like to end my speech by saying that employee-employer relations are now more critical than ever. We are going to see change but our responses to foster harmonious relations, while working towards lifelong employability, and creating meaningful jobs is what will steer our progress and relevance. I congratulate AIOE for having taken the initiative to present awards to the enterprises with the most outstanding industrial relations practices. Enterprises that have taken part in this initiative recognize the importance of linking industrial relations with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational culture. This provides a clear competitive advantage.
The importance of good Industrial Relations has been beautifully illustrated by E F Schumacher, who said: “If we cannot achieve a real meeting of minds with the people nearest to us in our daily lives, our existence becomes an agony and a disaster. In order to achieve it I must be able to gain knowledge of what it is like to be “you” and you must be able to gain knowledge of what it means to be like me”.
Thank you for your attention.