The labor ministers of the countries of the G7 Today they highlighted the importance of applying the lessons learned from the pandemic and committing to better access to continuous training and more inclusion in the working market for its sustainability.
At the end of their two-day meeting in Kurashiki, western Japan, on Sunday, job holders of the group of seven (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and the United States), together with the representative of the branch of European Union, They adopted a joint declaration in which they advocate that States make a greater investment in human capital.
In this sense, they highlighted the importance of “learning lessons from the policies linked to covid-19 in order to be able to respond to future crises without jeopardizing the sustainability of social protection systems”, given the unforeseen budgetary costs that these measures they provoked in some countries, putting pressure on their unemployment systems.
With this in mind, they advocated developing policies that include greater support so that workers can remain, enter or return to a job in any circumstance.
The pandemic has generated changes in the forms of production and consumption and the expansion of the use of digital platforms, accelerating a transformation of the labor market and communications.
To adapt to this new situation, the G7 advocates promoting “adequate opportunities to improve and update professional skills, to help reduce the risk of job insecurity, skill mismatches and gaps, and a shortage of skilled workers in our labor markets” .
“We will renew our efforts to improve the availability of quality education and continuing training opportunities, particularly for those most in need”, including strengthening public-private coordination, given the “high inequality” of access to training programs between the economies of the G7, they added.
Regarding the fall in the size of the labor force, the G7 ministers advocated promoting market participation through the incorporation of older workers and people with disabilities, who can use telecommuting, robotics wave artificial intelligence (AI).
The group’s job holders recognized that there are still differences in access to job opportunities, including the gender gap and “occupational segregation and stereotyped visions of gender roles, especially in managerial positions,” in which they committed to continue working.
The group included in the text a condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine“which has caused untold harm to the people of Ukraine, as well as rising food and energy prices that threaten millions with an increased risk of poverty, and has had social, economic and market impacts significant employment in Ukraine and beyond,” they noted.