Session 1 – Forging agile and flexible workforces: Bolstering global mobility of skilled talent
In the first session, the panelists focused on some of the most critical matters concerning migrant workers and the need for social protection, as well as the aim of making India a hub for manufacturing skills.
The first session’s distinguished panelists included Ms. Sita Sharma; Independent expert on international migration, Matthias Thorns; Deputy Secretary-General, IOE – International Organisation of Employers, OmPrakash Muppirala; Head, Fountain India and VP Engineering, Fountain, Vidya Basarkod; Country Director – India and Ramboll Engineering Centre Director, Mariko Ouchi; Senior Social Protection Specialist for South Asia, International Labour Organization (ILO) and the moderator for this session was Mr. Aditya Ghosh; Co-Chairman, CII National Committee on Skill Development and Livelihood 2022-23, Co-Founder, Akasa Airlines, Chairperson – Social Enterprise Central of SEWA.
Ms. Sita Sharma; Independent expert on international migration, shared her thoughts on the discussion, saying, “We have seen a shift in how India is looking at the world and looking at migration from India. We have a very robust policy where we are looking at becoming the skill capital“.
Mariko Ouchi; Senior Social Protection Specialist for South Asia, International Labour Organization (ILO), focuses on the extension of social protection to migrant workers and the possibilities and limitations. She says, “We need to have more social protection programs and information and knowledge to know the rights of the migrant workers.”
Matthias Thorns; Deputy Secretary-General, IOE – International Organisation of Employers joined the session virtually and shared his thoughts on the topic. He said, “Labor mobility has been part of the global labor market for a long time. We have seen that the number of international migrants has likely risen between 2010 and 2019 by 0.2 percent. So there was a legal pathway for migration. We need to bring in migration policies in areas with labor market needs and involve business in this”.
From the discussion talking about the private sector perspective, Vidya Basarkod; Country Director – India and Ramboll Engineering Centre Director shared her views on the topic, “We need to have a holistic perspective on when we make people ready for the workforce in the global market.”
OmPrakash Muppirala; Head, Fountain India and VP Engineering, Fountain, mentioned the challenges in finding the right people and the emphasis on creating online databases of applicants to what the factors happening in the spaces using data science and machine learning.
