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Harnessing Potential of Labour through HR Development 

23 Apr 2021

Last year, during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka, many members of the country’s workforce were laid off, while some were forced to work for wages lesser than what they were entitled to. Even though the country’s situation appears to be somewhat promising compared to that of last year, the country’s economy, of which employment opportunities is a staple part, is yet to return to normalcy.  Ensuring proper job opportunities for those who lost their jobs as well as those who are to enter the country’s workforce is an uphill battle, as businesses were severely affected during the pandemic. However, the Government seems to be taking measures to tackle this issue.  As part of these endeavours, the Department of Labour recently announced that it has decided to conduct a survey with regard to private sector employees who lost their jobs owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, and that it expects to take measures to resolve issues identified based on the findings of a survey.  Sri Lanka’s workforce again became a topic of discussion this week, as the Government announced its plans to strengthen the Department of Manpower and Labour, which focuses mostly on those entering the country’s workforce.    Legal recognition for the Manpower and Employment Dept  The Cabinet of Ministers, at the last meeting on 19 April, decided to grant approval for a proposal tabled by the Youth and Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa, with regard to establishing the role of the Department of Manpower and Employment on a legal basis. The Cabinet also decided to instruct the Legal Draftsman to draft a bill containing the necessary provisions to go ahead with the plan.  “It is expected to achieve the objectives of reducing the unemployment rate in the country, and managing manpower according to future trends. The need for the Department to have formal legal status in the performance of the said functions and the suitability of establishing it by an Act of Parliament has been recognised,” the Department of Government Information said.  The Department of Manpower and Employment was established by the Gazette (Extraordinary) Number 1640/31 dated 2 February 2010, with the aim of producing strong professionals for the development of the human resource of the country.  According to its official website, the Department is tasked with performing a number of functions including the formulation and implementation of the National Manpower and Employment Policy, designing jobs, engaging in promotional activities and the provision of career guidance, and the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information on the labour market with the aim of building a labour force which is globally competitive and competent, and for the implementation of various activities towards minimising unemployment, and the development of an organised Labour Market Information System.  Among the objectives of the Department are providing solutions to the structural issue of unemployment owing to the inconsistency of skills, facilitating Sri Lankans who are part of the country’s labour force and Sri Lankans who are willing to join the labour market in the future in the determination of accurate professional orientations, planning, developing and making predictions with regard to manpower related needs, the development of the informal sector, the motivation of job seekers to obtain employment in the private sector, providing free public employment services, providing manpower and employment related facilities to vulnerable groups, differently-abled persons and for people living in underdeveloped areas, providing accurate local and international information on the labour market to all Sri Lankans, and predicting local and global labour market trends.    Importance of more power, legal recognition  The Department’s Director General, Anusha Gokula Fernando, told The Morning that if and when the Department is vested with more power and recognition through the proposed Act, it would be able to augment and streamline a large number of its activities, some of which are of national importance.  Describing the functions of the Department, about which there is a severe lack of knowledge among the public, she added: “The Department was established in 2010, in order to make the necessary interventions to strengthen the country’s human resource and manpower. These interventions included conducting studies and researches and case studies pertaining to the human resource and manpower, and making the findings public. These include, for example, studies on whether there are adequate training opportunities for the students who drop out at the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level stage, because when we look at Sri Lanka’s manpower sector, there is a mismatch between the qualifications of individuals and the opportunities available in the job market. Also, there is a need to conduct large scale studies on several matters such as what type of job opportunities would dominate the job market and what type of job opportunities would cease to exist in 10 years time.”  The Department is, as a matter of fact, the country’s research arm on manpower and the human resource, she stressed, adding that even though it was previously under the Ministry of Labour, after the appointment of the current Cabinet, it was brought under the purview of Minister Rajapaksa.  She further said that despite the importance of conducting such studies, they have not been conducted so far, and that in order to commence such activities, the Department requires data and information, which could be easily and officially collected if the Department is strengthened through the said Act.  She explained: “However, a large amount of these data and information required by the Department are currently in the possession of various institutions such as the Department of Census and Statistics, the Election Commission, the Ministry of Education and Department of Examinations, and therefore, we do not have to necessarily collect them from scratch. The Department can obtain the necessary data and information from the said institutions only after being empowered through an Act. Due to the Department having been established through a Gazette notification, within the existing administrative system, the Department has not been vested with powers to officially obtain such data and information. Therefore, it needs a certain legal empowerment.”  Speaking further on the importance of legal recognition for the Department, she added: “If legally empowered, the Department could do more than merely presenting its research findings, and can also take steps to see to it that the recommendations are implemented and receive the necessary attention.”  When questioned as to what the Department plans to implement once legal recognition is received, she added that the Department has already formulated a strategic plan with the involvement of all the relevant stakeholders for the next five years, which could be implemented properly with proper legal recognition and powers.  According to her, among the plans included in the strategic plan are, creating a database of job seekers and job providers with the aim of building a connection between the two groups for an effective and swift recruitment process, which would help the two parties to pre plan their job seeking and job providing activities.  “Also, the Department has planned to launch an app, in order to provide a free platform for the public to easily find registered goods and service providers to fulfill their day to day domestic needs,” she noted, adding that the Department has already commenced this activity, and that it is likely to be launched by June.  If a need arises, those in the private sector would also be made part of this, according to Fernando.  When questioned about the country’s informal sector workers, who were severely affected during the Covid-19 pandemic, she added that around 90,000 migrant workers have returned from abroad and that they have many issues concerning their livelihood. She added that the Department, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) and with the support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), is currently carrying out a programme which involves individually contacting those who returned to the country. According to Fernando, some of the returnee migrant workers are willing to invest their money, but that they have no knowledge as to where and how to invest their money, and that the Department is therefore in a position to train unskilled workers who have returned to the country, before they go back abroad again, should they decide to do so.  “When looking at the international situation, in most countries, at the age of around 14 years (akin to those studying in Grade Eight in Sri Lankan Government and semi Government schools), a person gets the opportunity to decide what career path they would like to pursue in the future. Currently, there are approximately 350,000 children in the country who are Grade Eight students. We are looking into devising a mechanism to reach all those students, and to assist children in choosing their career,” she added.  Another advantage of having proper legal recognition and more official powers for the Department, according to Fernando, is that it would be useful in gaining more opportunities to raise awareness about and promote the activities of the Department. She acknowledged that due to a lot of people not being aware of the Department’s services, the Department has not been able to reach its potential in serving the public, specifically job seekers and job providers.  Speaking of the Department’s future activates which could be strengthened through more power and recognition, Fernando added: “Also, 12 researches, 12 surveys and 12 brainstorming sessions have been planned and some are in progress, and through these programmes, which are conducted with stakeholders of diverse fields, the Department has been able to learn many matters that are not widely known. The Department takes steps to refer these matters to the relevant institutions. However, since the Department has been established through a Gazette, it does not have a significant power to follow up, and therefore, having been recognized through an Act would be of great importance.”    Trade unions’ response  When contacted, several trade unions said that they were not in a position to comment on this matter, as there is no information as to the contents of the Act through which the Department is to be empowered and recognised.  However, the Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers’ Union (CMU) General Secretary, Sylvester Jayakody, said that any matter pertaining to Sri Lanka’s labour force should be discussed at the Labour Department’s National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC). He told The Morning that he expects to raise the matter at the next meeting of the NLAC, which is scheduled to be held on 28 April.  Meanwhile, Protect Union – a trade Union striving to empower the informal sector workers, one of the sectors the Department works for – General Secretary Kalpa Madhuranga, said that while strengthening the laws and powers of institutions is important, labour rights also need to be protected and strengthened.  Speaking of the manpower related services in Sri Lanka in general, he told The Morning that the concept of providing manpower through various companies does not necessarily involve protecting what are recognised as labour rights. He added that even though there are certain policies that are applicable to manpower employees, it is not possible to say that their rights are always protected due to the nature of their employment.  As far as the country’s workforce is concerned, Sri Lanka is currently facing two challenges, which is safeguarding the existing jobs in a context where Covid-19 has affected most businesses, and generating more jobs to cater to the demands of new job seekers.  Giving legal recognition and more powers to a little known public institution that can be extremely useful in strengthening the country’s workforce, is an admirable act.


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