Inaugural labour conference for next month
Mompati Tlhankane | Monday June 13, 2022 06:00
The conference, to be held under the theme, “Building back better post the COVID-19 pandemic: Decent work and inclusive social protection systems”, will bring together industry captains with distinguished speakers and experts in panel discussions on labour issues.
The event, through the theme and sub themes, will accord an opportunity for stakeholders to engage and share experiences on new ways and inclusive technologies of doing business. Furthermore, participants will engage and make recommendations that promote integrated policy reforms that are gender sensitive. In addition, the conference will deliberate on mental health issues that help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on workers’ personal and professional lives.
The theme is derived in relation to the planned labour and employment international engagements such as the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) 110th session labour symposium for 2022, which will be a general discussion on decent work and Social Solidarity Economy (SSE). ILES chief executive officer, Shandukani Hlabano, highlighted that the disruptions caused by digitalisation coupled with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic left world economies in a precarious condition, therefore the need to gather critical stakeholders and come up with solutions of doing things differently. Hlabano further stated ILES has partnered with other organisations for further deployment on labour and employment matters to ensure that the dynamics of the work environment are improved. “We are included in the ILO database as a service provider, and we have done relatively well in labour-related research for the ILO to help understand the nature of the relationships of the workforce. We have also partnered with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a German development agency to offer training and research on labour issues,” he said.
Hlabano also indicated that the annual conference would have different experts in different industries that cater to the various segments of the conference whom shall deliberate on the workforce dynamics and make recommendations. For his part, the BOPEU’s secretary-general, Topias Marenga applauded the Institute for bringing a high-end conference where all the decision-makers and experts can take summaries from well-researched case studies and deliveries to impact the workforce dynamics.