In an interview developed by the news website of Gipuzkoa, the Advisor of the ILO General Director for employment policies and future of work, Raymond Torres, gave alert on the transformation of the labor market and aimed at changing employment policies to adapt to a reality based on technology

What are the challenges that society faces when articulating employment and social cohesion?

We are emerging from a crisis that has caused high levels of unemployment, inactivity, a large number of people are not even looking for a job as they have become discouraged… It is important to also consider that a very important technological revolution that completely redistributes employment is going on.

How is that so?

You do not only find employees or independent workers anymore. Employees are diversifying and the entire economic system is changing a lot.

Meanwhile, inequities keep on growing.

It is a situation that is occurring basically in every country. Euskadi is probably an exception. Though the technological revolution provides new employment opportunities, it makes it hard to maintain social cohesion.  Unemployment among qualified young people, who have university degrees, is something that undermines the social deal and causes this contempt we are witnessing.

Until now, exclusion has always been contended with social allowances. However, is that enough?

It is vital, but not enough. Something else is necessary. For instance, several countries have employment offices that extend their services not only to unemployed people, but also to people who are inactive for different reasons.

So?

Social security is needed, but it is also necessary to think about employment and the type of employment that is being generated.

We are emerging from the crisis and new contracts are being generated. The key is in providing legal security to both, employers and workers. We need to re-think the system, particularly considering the changes that are coming. The technological transformation of our economies must make us completely re-think the entire regulatory framework, including labour, social, education and competition policies.

Can you give us examples of those transformations?

Just like we all have a right to a pension at a certain point of our lives, every person should be entitled to a number of education credits to be used, mostly, during the first years of his/her life, but also during his/her adulthood. This is something very important for us to reflect on. In addition, as unemployment is reduced, savings produced by not paying unemployment allowances could be used for active employment policies. It is also important to rethink the funding of the productive activity, enabling the creation of new companies. Employment linked to caretaking, education and healthcare will show strong growth… everything linked to interpersonal relationships will grow, while those jobs linked to industries that can me automatized will tend to disappear.

Is there any country or model we can use as an example?

Not really, because the technological revolution is something that is going on right now. We have to learn. Germany and Japan, for example, have a strong strategy of industrial transformation to make the most of Big Data, which shall be the oil of tomorrow.

Are companies prepared to include vulnerable people in their payroll?

Every process of decentralization of responsibilities, of reducing hierarchies, is a pending task, as well as including vulnerable groups of people who, actually, enrich organizations. Sociological diversity in a company is something key for the future. There are surveys that show that focusing on a very young population may result in a lack of adaptation when faced with a crisis. And vice versa. A certain level of diversity is needed.

Do you agree with promoting tax policies that encourage hiring these groups of people?

I do not, because they produce a certain stigma. I would promote supporting the person instead of the company, providing, at least for a while, an allowance and a salary.

In this context, is the automation of jobs another handicap?

It might be an advantage, as there is no need for permanently being at the workspace. In addition, vulnerable groups may find it a lot easier to work part time. But there might be an additional disadvantage if the connection to those kind of platforms is not similar for everyone. Large investments are still needed to keep on developing broadband and enable everyone to access these kind of technologies.

 What role does training play?

It is key. We need to bet on training to adapt to jobs. Designing active labour policies and developing adults’ training policies. There is a lot of work to be done.

Source: Noticias de Gipuzkoa