Assam: G20's Employment Working Group meets in Guwahati to discuss global skill gaps and social protection

The second meeting of the Employment Working Group (EWG) of the G20 grouping began in Assam on Monday. The three-day meeting will focus on a wide range of issues related to labor, employment, and social issues, in order to promote inclusive growth.

Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Union Labour and Employment Secretary Arti Ahuja said the EWG will deliberate on various issues under three broad areas. "Under the first area, we will deliberate on global skill gaps. The second area is gig, platform economy and social protection. The last section will be sustainable financing for social protection," she added.

The EWG has a mandate of addressing priority labor, employment and social issues for strong, sustainable, balanced and job-rich growth for all, Ahuja said.

Joint Secretary in Labor and Employment Ministry, Rupesh Kumar Thakur, elaborated on the topics to be discussed. In the first segment, delegates will discuss ways to strengthen the availability, quality, and comparability of information on supply, demand, and mismatch of skills.

"They will also explore the feasibility of constructing a global skills taxonomy and developing harmonization pathways in key sectors," Thakur said.

The second theme will focus on extending social protection coverage to gig and platform workers. "It will also discuss the option to adopt and strengthen measures to bring platform and gig workers within social protection systems, including facilitating registration and data sharing mechanisms," the joint secretary said.

The final area of discussion will stress adequate levels of social spending during budget preparation. "Developing systems that help boost employment, investing in policies that support workers to remain in or return to work--these points will be taken into consideration in that segment," Thakur added.

Thakur said that a total of 59 delegates from 19 member countries, 15 from seven guest nations and six from five international organizations have come to Guwahati to take part in the second meeting of the EWG under the ongoing G20 summits in India. The first meeting of the EWG happened at Jodhpur in Rajasthan on February 2-4 this year.

The G20 group, which comprises the world's largest economies, aims to promote international financial stability and sustainable economic growth. India is hosting the G20 Presidency in 2023, and the Employment Working Group is one of the many groups under the G20 framework that is actively working to promote the common interests of all member countries.