ILOJapan Tripartite Regional Meeting on Youth Employment in Asia and the Pacific

1
ILO/Japan Tripartite Regional Meeting on Youth
Employment in Asia and the Pacific

• 27 February - 1 March 2002
• Bangkok

2
Creating Employment

• Elizabeth Morris
• Labour Market and Human Resources Policies
  Specialist
• ILO East Asia Multidisciplinary Advisory Team
• Bangkok

3
Contents

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Decent work in Asia
• 3 Employment challenge
• 4 Employment promotion
• 5 ILOs Comprehensive Employment Framework

4

• 6 ILO Resolution Concerning Youth Employment,
  86th Session, June 1999
• 7 National youth policies
• 8 Including youth employment in overall
  strategies

5

• 9 Recommendations of the High- level Panel for
  the Youth Employment Network
• 10 Conclusions

6
1. Introduction

7

• According to recommendations of the High-level
  Panel for the Youth Employment Network
• Employability, equal opportunities and
  entrepreneurship, to be most effective, require
  an enabling environment where employment creation
  is placed at the centre of macroeconomic and
  other public policies.

8

• Employability requires not just appropriate
  skills and training but also public policies
  which lead to new employment opportunities where
  these skills can be used.

9

• Investing in youth requires not just better
  skilled youth, but a commitment by public and
  private sector partners to keep job creation a
  central concern of their investment strategies.

10

• Equality should follow a high road leading to
  increased opportunities for both women and men.

11

• Entrepreneruship should be supported not only
  through structural measures but also through
  growth-oriented macroeconomic policies so that
  enterprises can sustain themselves.

12

• Creating employment is a high priority for young
  people. For the ILO the most effective way to
  promote sustainable livelihoods and poverty
  reduction is through decent work. Employment
  promotion must be an integral part of the
  development agenda.

13
2. Decent work in Asia

14

• Thirteenth Asian Regional Meeting
• Delegates of the Thirteenth Asian Regional
  Meeting of the ILO in August 2001 stressed that
  employment promotion is essential for decent work
  and poverty reduction.

15

• They called upon the ILO to assist national
  constituents in developing employment frameworks
  for the Decent Work Agenda.

16

• Delegates pointed to the importance of
  establishing development plans to alleviate
  unemployment and the need for a policy framework
  favourable to growth including a conducive
  environment for raising productivity and
  increasing competitiveness of enterprises.

17

• They called for better cooperation among
  government agencies and social partners in
  providing a high priority to employment issues in
  the policy agenda.

18

• Delegates noted the significant increase in
  flexible work arrangements - subcontracting,
  casual, fixed-term, part-time, temporary and
  home-based work.

19

• All of these apply to employment challenges
  facing young women and young men in the Asia and
  Pacific region.

20
3. Employment challenge
21

• During the past few years the global economy has
  created 40 million new jobs a year compared to 48
  million new job seekers.
• Out of the 40 million new jobs as many as 10
  million are working poor or underemployed workers.

22

• In developing countries the unemployment rate is
  an inadequate measure of employment conditions.
  People cannot afford to be without work.

23

• In Asia unemployed workers as a percentage of
  the labour force are 4.7 per cent while the
  working poor as a percentage of the labour force
  are 19.2 per cent. Together they account for
  23.9 per cent of the labour force.

24

• According to ILO estimates 66 million young
  people are unemployed throughout the world. This
  represents 41 per cent of the global total of 160
  million unemployed.
• During the next ten years it is expected that
  there will be 460 million new, young jobseekers
  most of them in developing regions and two-thirds
  in Asia alone.

25

• Throughout the world youth are two to three
  times more likely to be unemployed than adults.
  Young women often experience greater difficulties
  finding employment opportunities than young men.

26

• Teenagers 15-19 years old generally have higher
  rates of unemployment than young adults aged
  20-24 years. Many jobs held by young people are
  low paid and of poor quality.

27

• Other youth are underemployed in jobs that do
  not utilize their full productive potential and
  do not provide adequate earnings and decent work.
  In many developing countries young people cannot
  afford the luxury of being unemployed.
  Instead,they often find low productivity work in
  the informal sector.

28
4. Employment promotion

29

• The second strategic objective of the ILO is to
  promote opportunities for women and men to obtain
  employment and income.

30

• The ILO Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No.
  122) commits countries to full, productive and
  freely chosen employment.
• An active policy should be designed to stimulate
  growth and development, meet manpower
  requirements and overcome unemployment and
  underemployment.

31

• Policies should ensure that there is work for
  all who are available for and seeking work and
  that such work is as productive as possible.

32

• Freedom of choice should enable individual
  workers the opportunity to use skills and
  endowments to find appropriate jobs irrespective
  of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, political
  opinion, social status or national origin.
  Representatives of employers and workers should
  be consulted in the formulation of policies
  related to employment.

33

• Among participants at this meeting the following
  have ratified or notified Convention 122
• Australia (1969)
• Peoples Republic of China (1997)
• Hong Kong SAR (1997)
• Japan (1986)
• Papua New Guinea (1976)
• Thailand (1969)

34

• In addition to Employment Policy Convention,
  1964 (No. 122) there are two recommendations that
  provide principles and guidelines for
  implementation

35

• Employment Policy Recommendation, 1964 (No. 122)
• Employment Policy Recommendation, 1984 (No. 169)

36

• These include recommendations with regard to
• Analytical studies
• Statistical analysis
• Coordination mechanisms
• Employment services
• Training and retraining
• Economic development
• Industrial employment

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• Rural underemployment
• International aid
• Social objectives
• Regional development
• Labour absorption
• Macroeconomic policies

38

• Recommendation No. 169 includes a section on
  Employment of Youth and Disadvantaged Groups and
  Persons urging Members to adopt measures to
  respond to the needs of all categories of persons
  frequently having difficulties in finding lasting
  employment, such as certain women, certain young
  workers, disabled persons, older workers, the
  long-term unemployed and migrant workers lawfully
  in their territory.

39

• The Special Programmes for Young People
  Recommendation, 1970 (No. 136) contains
  guidelines for youth employment.

40

• More information about Conventions and
  Recommendations may be found at
• http//ilolex.ilo.ch1567/english/index.htm

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• Country Employment Policy Reviews

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• Country Employment Policy Reviews (CEPRs) are a
  key instrument for providing ILO support in
  implementing Convention 122.

43

• CEPRs analyse and assess employment issues and
  labour markets and make policy recommendations to
  lead individual countries toward full employment.
• CEPRs underscore the centrality of employment in
  national policies.

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CEPRs have been undertaken in

• Chile
• Brazil
• Barbados
• Kenya
• Cote dIvoire
• Pakistan
• Thailand

• Nepal
• Hungary
• Ukraine
• Austria
• Denmark
• Ireland
• Netherlands

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CEPRs are being conducted in

• Panama
• Yemen
• Philippines
• Sri Lanka

46

• Efforts should be taken to make certain that
  youth employment receives a high profile in
  future CEPRs.

47

• There can be no decent work when job seekers
  cannot find employment opportunities. Thus,
  employment promotion plays a central role.

48
5. ILOs Comprehensive Employment Framework

49

• In many ways young people will benefit from
  overall policies for growth, employment and
  poverty. Among policy challenges included in the
  Global Employment Agenda are the following

50

• Develop an employment-led poverty reduction
  strategy ensuring a high rate of output and
  employment growth without sacrificing efficiency
• Support specific measures aimed at raising the
  productivity and incomes of the working poor
  focussing on skills, credit and organization

51

• Incorporate employment considerations explicitly
  into public expenditure programmes
• Encourage greater international coordination of
  economic stimuli
• Introduce tripartite debate for policies during
  both recession and inflation

52

• Avoid damaging cutbacks in healthcare and
  education as part of stabilization measures
• Link fiscal and monetary targets to targets for
  employment growth and poverty reduction

53
6. ILC Resolution Concerning Youth Employment,
86th Session, Geneva, June 1998
54
The ILC noted the following circumstances of
youth employment

• Economic downturn and structural adjustment make
  it difficult to provide education, training and
  employment opportunities for youth
• Employment opportunities for young people are
  often part time, casual, temporary and insecure

55

• In many countries young people, particularly
  between the ages of 15 and 24, are finding it
  increasingly difficult to enter the labour market
  which constitutes a threat to social peace and an
  obstacle to the development of the individual and
  to that of society as a whole

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• Youth employment is one dimension of the general
  and widespread problem of unemployment and
  underemployment
• Youth employment is a reflection of an
  unfavourable economic situation which cannot be
  resolved without a global increase in economic
  growth and employment

57

• In every country ready access to education and
  training of young people is important
• The creation of sustainable employment
  opportunities depends upon governments, involving
  the social partners as appropriate, creating the
  right conditions for a competitive and viable
  private sector, an efficient and effective public
  sector and active labour market policies

58

• Social progress and economic growth should go
  hand in hand, and globalization, such as
  international trade and foreign direct
  investment, has the potential to create high
  quality jobs and training opportunities for young
  people

59

• Employment cannot be created by legislation and
  regulations alone but these play an important
  role in enabling young people to enter the labour
  market and embark upon their adult life

60
Based on these observations the Conference called
upon member States and, where appropriate,
employers, workers and their respective
organizations to undertake a number if measures.
Those most directly related to creating
employment are the following
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• Implement a balanced economic growth strategy
• Consider new and innovative policies and
  programmes to create employment opportunities for
  young people

62

• Increase investment in basic education targeted
  at improving the quality of education and access
  to further and higher education for disadvantaged
  categories of young people
• Promote enterprise, entrepreneurship and
  self-employment among young people

63

• Adopt and implement policies which improve
  competitiveness through investment, including
  investment in technology, human resources
  development, education and skills, in order to
  promote economic growth, social development and
  employment

64
7. National youth policies
65

• A national youth policy states the priorities
  and directions a country intends giving to the
  development of young men and young women. It
  represents a commitment to a vision and a
  framework for youth participation.

66

• National youth polices provide a basis for
  planning, monitoring and evaluating policies and
  programmes for young women and young men.

67

• The following components may be present in a
  national youth policy
• Establishing goals and objectives for involving
  youth in national development and social
  responsibility
• Facilitating a coordinated response to youth
  development
• Developing supportive families and communities

68

• Achieving social justice
• Promoting healthy lifestyles and personal
  well-being
• Encouraging a positive perspective on global
  issues and international understanding
• Developing positive attitudes toward
  environmental issues

69
8. Including youth employment in overall
strategies
70

• It is important to link youth policies with
  general strategies including employment promotion.

71

• There are a number of ways to make certain that
  young people are included in the employment
  agenda. Among these are the following
• Direct participation of young people in policy
  making
• Partnerships for action at the national level
  including governments, employers, workers and
  NGOs

72

• Alliances and networks at the international level
  for exchange of experience and mobilization of
  resources
• Political commitment to providing decent work for
  young women and young men

73

• Better statistics for youth employment including
  comparable data for young people aged 15-24 years
  disaggregated by sex
• Improved information about opportunities for
  counselling, training and jobs including wage
  employment and self-employment

74

• Please refer to the following paper prepared for
  this meeting
• Peter K. Wingfield Digby, Youth employment
  statistics in Asia and the Pacific A review of
  internet resources

75
9. Recommendations of the High-level Panel for
the Youth Employment Network

76

• The High-level Panel for the Youth Employment
  Network of the ILO recommends that a youth
  employment dimension be integrated into
  comprehensive employment strategies.

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• Incorporate youth employment policies into a
  comprehensive employment strategy and strengthen
  their linkages with macroeconomic, social and
  development policies
• Make social and economic institutions work for
  youth
• Invest in education, training and life-long
  learning

78

• Take concerted action to help improve economic
  and human capabilities, productivity and incomes
  for young people working in the informal economy,
  to facilitate the integration of this part of the
  economic system into the mainstream economy

79

• Adopt national strategies to harness the
  employment generation and welfare-enhancement
  potential of information and communications
  technologies (ICT) for the benefit of young women
  and men

80

• The following paper was prepared for this
  meeting
• Richard Curtain, Promoting youth employment
  through information and communications
  technologies (ICT) Best practice examples in
  Asia and the Pacific

81

• Exploit new opportunities for employment of young
  people being opened up by the rapidly expanding
  service sector

82

• Promote innovation and entrepreneurship for young
  people as well as employment opportunities
  through enterprise development
• Expand and improve the range of labour market
  services available to young people as a means of
  facilitating their better and faster access to
  work

83

• Ensure a social floor for young people by
  improving their working conditions, promoting
  their rights and recognizing their voice and
  representation at work
• Extend outreach and mobilize networks to promote
  youth employment locally, nationally and
  internationally

84

• Recognize that effective, sustained application
  of policies by many countries should be supported
  by major improvements in the international
  economic and financial environment
• Recognize the need for concerted and coordinated
  international action on youth employment

85
10. Conclusions

86

• Youth employment in a chronic problem in most
  countries of the Asia and Pacific region.
• Lack of adequate information often makes it
  difficult to measure unemployment and
  underemployment of young people.

87

• It is clear, however, that youth unemployment
  is greater than adult unemployment.
• Moreover, jobs of youth are generally more
  sensitive to economic downturns than those of
  adults based on the principle of last in, first
  out.

88

• Tackling youth employment requires a
  macroeconomic strategy designed to stimulate
  growth, employment and equity.
• In this regard youth employment must be placed
  on the general agenda for employment promotion.

89

• Employment must be at the centre of development
  strategies and macroeconomic policies.
• Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122)
  represents a commitment to full employment
  policies.

90

• More recently the ILO has developed a Global
  Employment Agenda for employment promotion by
  national governments. This provides a framework
  for policies to promote employment.
• Sustainable economic growth and a strong private
  sector open employment opportunities for young
  people.

91

• The effectiveness of policies for young people
  will depend on economic growth and sufficient
  jobs. Yet good results can be achieved with an
  integrated package to combat youth unemployment
• education and training
• guidance and counselling
• support for entrepreneurship

92

• Youth employment and job creation cannot be
  separated from the educational system and its
  relationship to the the world of work.

93

• Active labour market are useful in targeting
  vulnerable groups of young people including
• disadvantaged youth
• school dropouts
• young women
• ethnic minorities
• disabled youth

94

• There is a strong case for increasing and
  strengthening the protection of young people in
  the labour market. This includes young women and
  young men in temporary, contract and part-time
  work with low pay and little organization.

95

• In order to improve policies it is useful to
  have information and analysis for young people in
  the labour market. This should identify the
  nature and causes of youth unemployment.
  Improved statistics by age and sex should enable
  policymakers to identify target groups and
  monitor youth employment.

96

• Better policies result from active involvement
  of employers organizations and trade unions.
• Young people themselves should participate in
  policy making for youth employment.

97
Sources

• ACTRAV and IFP/SKILLS, Decent Work A Common
  Goal of Youth and Trade Unions
• ACTEMP and IFP/SKILLS, Meeting the Youth
  Employment Challenge
• IFP/SKILLS, Generating opportunities for youth
  people The ILOs decent work agenda
• Niall OHiggins, Youth unemployment and
  employment policy A global perspective, Geneva
  ILO, 2001.

98

• ILO Decent Work in Asia
• ILO Global Agenda for Employment
• Simon White and Peter Kenyon, Enterprise-based
  youth employment policies, strategies and
  programmes
• United Nations General Assembly Fifty-sixth
  session, Agenda item 29, Follow-up to the outcome
  of the Millenium Summit, Recommendations of the
  High-level Panel of the Youth Employment Network