Under India’s G20 Presidency, the First Employment Working Group meeting began at Jodhpur for a three-day session today. The Ministry of Labour and Employment is leading discussions for the Working Group which has a mandate of addressing priority labour, employment and social issues.
A panel discussion with a focus on “Exploring strategies for global skills and qualifications harmonization and developing a framework for common skill taxonomies” was organised.The panelists shared insights and ideas on the priority area of “Addressing Global Skills Gaps” chosen by the Indian Presidency for the Employment Working Group.
The discussion was chaired and moderated by Mr Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, who provided insightful guidance for the event.
The panel consisted of prominent leaders in the field including Muchtar Azis, Director of Competency, Standardisation and training programs, Ministry of Manpower of the Republic of Indonesia; Stefano Scarpetta, Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD); Anil D Sahasrabuddhe, Chairman of National Education Technology Forum (NETF); Christine Hofmann, Skills and Employability Specialist at the International Labour Organisation (ILO); and Mr Manish Sabharwal, Vice Chairman of TeamLease.
Delegates from the G20 countries, Guest countries, International and National Organisations and other prominent international and national experts attended the discussion. Officers from several Central and State Government agencies, representatives from industry bodies, academia and Chair of Labour-20 Engagement Group also participated.
The panel discussion focused on global trends on skill shortages, surpluses and mismatches and deliberated on the means to plug these skills deficits, development of a collaborative road map for global skills and qualifications harmonization.
The diverse perspectives and expertise of the panelists provided an overview of the current state of skills and qualifications harmonization efforts and led to an engaging discussion on the need to capture and harmonize skill taxonomies at a more granular level.
The discussions provided fruitful insights on the need for advancing the skills and qualifications sector and creating a more harmonized and inclusive global skills landscape. The Chair summed up the recommendations by the panel by emphasizing on the need for having international dialogue and cooperation on skills harmonization and bilateral/multilateral partnerships on mutual recognition on skills and certifications.
