A feasibility study on developing an international framework for mutual recognition of skills and qualifications will focus on three key sectors- information and technology (IT), green jobs, and care-related roles, as per Ministry of Labour and Employment Secretary, Sumita Dawra who lead an Indian delegation at the First G20 Employment Working Group (EWG) meeting under South African Presidency, which ended on Friday.
The G20 EWG members at the meeting at Port Elizabeth, South Africa, have also identified priorities such as ‘inclusive growth & youth empowerment’ and ‘social security & digitalisation for an inclusive future of work’ to move ahead on this roadmap.
During India’s bilateral held with International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the sidelines of the First G20 Employment Working Group (EWG) meeting , it was agreed to expedite the feasibility study on international reference classification of occupations and skills, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said in a statement on Thursday.
The bilateral engagement was also a follow-up on New Delhi Leaders Declaration on G20 summit in India in 2023. It welcomed efforts to map global skill gaps and the development of the G20 policy priorities to address skill gaps globally, including through further strengthening our national statistical data, extending the coverage of the ILO and OECD Skills for Jobs Databases to G20 countries, as appropriate.
“Secretary (Dawra) briefed on the latest updates regarding funding, status of the agreement with ILO to complete the study, and collaboration with concerned stakeholders. It was agreed that the feasibility study will focus on three key sectors: IT, green jobs, and care-related roles,” the Ministry’s statement read.
Given India’s demographic dividend, and the projection that New Delhi will increasingly meet incremental global workforce requirements over the next decade, this study assumes great significance for facilitation of international mobility of qualified Indians, the Ministry observed.
In the bilateral discussion with the Netherlands, the focus was on India’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and its alignment with global efforts to address poverty through the concept of ‘living wages,’ thus improving living standards, the Ministry stated.
Collaboration with the Netherlands and the ILO was highlighted as critical to advancing living wages, with proposals for exchange of best practices and technical discussion on estimation of living wages.
With Germany, India entered into the Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) in October 2024 for enhancing cooperation in work including for global supply chains, human-centric AI and its impact on jobs, developing gig economy, and a global skills referencing framework.
India reaffirmed its commitment to deepening collaboration with Germany, fostering innovative projects and a shared vision for an inclusive and equitable future of work.
During the four-days, delegates of G20 Members and invited States made interventions and presentations on key focus areas of the G20 Labour & Employment track.