Employment and Labour Ministerial Meeting

Introductory remarks by Mr Mathias Cormann, OECD Secretary-General, and Ms Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Chair of the Ministerial Meeting (United Kingdom).

Session Chair: Ms Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Chair of the Ministerial Meeting (United Kingdom) All governments took bold measures to cushion the immediate impact of the COVID-19 crisis and support the recovery. Some countries have relied heavily on pre-existing measures, or adapted them to the COVID context, while others have introduced new measures from scratch. Some of these measures were designed to be temporary, including those to promote job retention or support the incomes of displaced workers, and governments are scaling them back as the crisis subsides. Now, new challenges have arisen, such as higher costs of energy and commodities. • What are the key lessons from your experience of having to quickly and massively ramp up measures or introduce new ones to respond to the COVID-19 crisis? What did and did not work as part of the government response to the crisis? Are there any temporary measures that you are planning to keep in some form? • What measures is your country taking in response to the rise in the cost of living? How does it strike the balance between protecting the incomes of workers and avoiding the risk of creating a wage-price spiral? To what extent is wage indexation used? What is the role of the social partners? • How did your government ensure the effective implementation of policies and their co-ordination across ministries and governance levels during the COVID-19 crisis? What has been the role of administrative systems for the monitoring, co-ordination and implementation of policies? What lessons do you see for government interventions in response to the rise in the cost of living? • How are the lessons from the policy response to the crisis shaping a recovery that seizes new opportunities to make labour markets more resilient, inclusive and green? Are in-depth evaluations planned and what form would these take?

Session Chair: Ms Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Chair of the Ministerial Meeting (United Kingdom) In the last part of this session, the Chair will invite Ministers to adopt the Policy Statement.

Session Chair: Ms Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Chair of the Ministerial Meeting (United Kingdom) As economic conditions improve, policy makers will need to foster durable, environmentally sustainable and gender-sensitive job-creation, while continuing to support individuals, firms and regions most affected by the crisis. • How does your government manage the differences between sectors with low vacancies against those with high vacancies and few employees to fill them? • What strategies does your government use to boost employment and investment in job-creating sectors? What steps are you taking to support those sectors still impacted by the pandemic? How can we ensure sectors experiencing growth deliver good-quality jobs? • What specific strategies are effective in boosting employment of underrepresented groups, such as persons with disabilities? • What measures have been put in place to improve employment opportunities across regions? What has been done to address regional disparities? What lessons have governments learned in their efforts to improve employment rates?

Session Chair: Ms Signe Riisalo, Minister of Social Protection, Vice-Chair of the Ministerial Meeting (Estonia) The crisis has affected the progression of structural changes driven by digitalisation, the transition to a low-carbon economy and globalisation. The pandemic has also underscored the higher risk of job loss and long-term unemployment amongst adults in low-skill and low-wage occupations, as well as amongst adults with low digital skills. This session will focus on policies to equip individuals for a post-crisis labour market. • How can adult education and training measures, as well as activation measures more widely, be designed and implemented in a way that benefits those with jobs at risk and low digital skills? What good practices can you share? • How does your government support individuals at risk of job loss before it has occurred? To what extent do the measures in place facilitate workers’ reallocation from declining to growing and more sustainable jobs? • What is the role of employers and social partners in facilitating workers’ training and informal on-the-job learning? How can they facilitate job transitions in co-operation with other institutions?

Session Chair: Mr José Luis Escrivá, Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Vice-Chair of the Ministerial Meeting (Spain) The COVID-19 crisis has accentuated socio-economic divides in labour markets and societies. Vulnerable labour market groups, such as workers on non-standard contracts, low-paid workers, young people, and in some cases women, have been most heavily affected by job and earnings losses. This session will focus on policies to reverse existing inequalities and bringing all on board in the recovery. • How successful has your country been at ensuring that emergency programmes during the COVID-19 crisis reached the most affected groups, such as the low skilled, young people, women, persons with disabilities, migrants and racial/ethnic minorities? Has your country explicitly targeted support to such groups, or designed programmes so as to facilitate easier access? • Which of the emergency measures that you have taken may remain in place more permanently, because they address larger structural challenges and help tackle inequalities? • In light of the war in Ukraine, what measures are needed now to support low-income households and workers and employers in heavily affected sectors? What measures has your country taken, and what have the challenges been? • What are the key labour market risks affecting vulnerable groups of workers in your country in the near future?

Session Chair: Ms Luisa María Alcalde Luján, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Vice-Chair of the Ministerial Meeting (Mexico). The COVID-19 crisis has not only highlighted the vulnerability of young people to economic recessions but has imposed additional costs on the youth still in education through disruptions to their learning activities and restrictions on their social life. For many of them, the impact of the crisis will only be temporary, but for others, there is a risk of long-lasting scars on their careers and broader social and economic outcomes. This session will focus on policies to support young people. • Which groups of young people are most at risk of being left behind in your country as it recovers from the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic and faces new challenges due to the war in Ukraine? • What measures is your government implementing to effectively support young people, and in particular vulnerable youth, to make a successful transition from school to work, to return to work or to stay in work? • What measures is your government using to prepare young people to adapt to future changes in the economy and the labour market, including skills requirements?

Session Chair: Mr Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Minister of Economy and Employment, Vice-Chair of the Ministerial Meeting (Belgium) The digital transformation is shifting into a higher gear with rapid advances in the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the increased adoption of new digital technologies. The greater use of digital technologies including AI in the workplace has an impact on both labour conditions (telework, the “right to disconnect” and new forms of control) and labour relations. The balance between the risks and benefits associated with the use of digital technologies in the workplace will depend largely on the policies and regulations that will frame its development and adoption. These should aim to both encourage job creation and innovation, while reinforcing workers’ rights, social security systems and occupational health and safety. This session will focus on policies to get the most out of the digital transformation. • What can governments, together with social partners, do to better prepare the labour market for the new opportunities that AI will offer? • What can be done to steer the development and dissemination of AI applications to promote a fair transition and greater labour market inclusion? • How to effectively regulate the development and use of AI in the workplace so as to promote innovation and productivity, while at the same time preserving human-centred values and fairness, as well as inclusion and accessibility? • How can we ensure workers’ labour and social protection rights, to avoid undermining of the labour market relations and to address the challenges of algorithmic decision-making?

This last session will allow the Chairs of the breakout sessions to report the main insights in their group to the plenary. • Mr Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Minister of Economy and Employment (Belgium) • Ms Signe Riisalo, Minister of Social Protection (Estonia) • Ms Luisa María Alcalde Luján, Minister of Labor and Social Welfarer (Mexico) • Mr José Luis Escrivá, Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration (Spain) • Ms Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (United Kingdom)

Closing remarks by Ms Thérèse Coffey, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Chair of the Ministerial Meeting (United Kingdom), and Ms Laurence Boone, OECD Deputy Secretary-General and Chief Economist