Co-funded by the European Union

IOE and WEC propose the road to a sustainable recovery for employment and decent work

  • Based on four drivers (informality, private sector growth, creating opportunities and digital transformation), the report puts forward a series of policy recommendations for sustained job recovery

Widespread economic uncertainty, high risk of business serious disruption, changing occupational safety and health guidelines, polarisation of opportunity and rising number of people forced to work in the informal sector, are some of the serious consequences of Covid-19 on employment and decent work detailed in a newly published joint position paper by the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and the World Employment Confederation (WEC).

The main drivers for reshaping inworking conditions, employability and labour market structures for a better normal are:

  • informality
  • sustainable and inclusive private sector growth
  • creating opportunities in the times of crisis
  • digital transformation

Informality remains particularly worrisome according to the IOE and WEC. The ILO estimates that two billion people, constituting more than 61 per cent of the world’s employed population make their living in the informal economy. The reports highlights that “Informality has been the elephant in the room for many, many years, but is rarely tackled with a holistic approach and effective measures. The pandemic has highlighted again the vulnerability of workers and employers in the informal economy, re-emphasising the urgent need to create conducive framework conditions for companies to be set up in the formal economy, to hire and grow in the formal economy, and to fully contribute to the needs and developments of societies and economies”.

To address this issue, along with the other drivers of employment and labour market challenges, the report puts forward a set of policy recommendations for shaping a better world of work for people and businesses.

The report provides concrete policy and regulatory options for policymakers and social partners on all levels of labour market governance. Specifically, these include promoting diverse forms of work, (re)designing policies for remote working, and the redesign of national labour market institutions and safety nets to accommodate a more dynamic and digital economy and world of work among many others listed in the publication.

Special focus is added on “Social Innovation” to make social protection systems more robust and promote formalisation. The report indicated that “To ensure safety nets are future proof they need to support a more diverse and agile workforce. This means (1) integrating lifelong learning and sustainable employability, (2) ensuring they progressively cover all forms of work appropriately and (3) promoting that labour market participation pays off. In sharing the costs policymakers should not punish businesses and workers for working in new ways and ensure fiscal sustainability”.

"This joint position provides crucial guidance to IOE’s 157-member employer’s organisations, governments and trade unions for concrete actions to support national and local paths to economic recovery and enabling an environment for sustainable enterprises. It is an important contribution to the global reflection happening now on how to “build back better” – ensuring this is not only a slogan but ground level transformation", explains IOE Secretary General Roberto Suárez Santos.

Businesses and governments have respective strengths that can be leveraged in better synergy”, adds WEC President Bettina Schaller. “Governments can facilitate and create an enabling environment for private sector growth and resilience which will eventually drive a sustained and job-rich recovery from the Covid-19 crisis”.