The private employment services sector is instrumental to the economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic, first by enabling a safe return to work and secondly by offering solutions to make labour markets more resilient. The World Employment Confederation has set up a dedicated task force to tap into its members’ expertise to share the best practices, reflect on the lessons learned and develop practical solutions to implement in collaboration with all stakeholders interested in building a sustainable and inclusive post-Covid 19 world of work.
The challenge
The private employment services sector is instrumental to the economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic. The immediate first step is to enable workers to resume work in the greatest health and safety conditions. But to enable a sustainable economic recovery in the longer-term, workers, businesses and society must be better prepared to work in more fluid and agile situations.
Solution
The private employment services sector can play a role through increased labour market participation, efficient matching of supply and demand for workers, career guidance and skilling. The World Employment Confederation has set up a dedicated task force for its members to pool their expertise and come up with solutions and recommendations that can be implemented in cooperation with public authorities, other economic sectors, trade unions and society as a whole.
The task force originates in a project launched by global private employment service agencies – Randstad, The Adecco Group and ManpowerGroup – in April 2020. As the Alliance has quickly broadened to involve a larger network of partners across the world, the World Employment Confederation (WEC) has taken over the ownership of the project in June 2020.
Key numbers
400
health & safety protocols reviewed
24
countries in the Alliance
Outcomes
To ensure a safe return to work, a practical guide and best practice protocols have been compiled, based on a review of over 400 health and safety protocols from five sectors (transport and logistics, automotive, manufacturing and life sciences, construction as well as food) in 13 countries.
WEC’s members have been then quite active in promoting this guide towards their members, client sectors and governments. In the US, the American Staffing Association launched the Safely Back to Work Pledge. In Poland, the Polish HR Forum was invited to join a working group consisting of representatives of employers' organisations tasked to review existing regulations and work out on proposals for legal changes concerning health & safety measures as well as remote work.
The second part of the project aims at reflecting on the role that the private employment services sector will play in the so-called ‘new normal’. Interviews have been conducted with industry leaders across the world and insights from those conversations have been shared through blogs and podcasts.