TRACK 1 : Macroeconomic implications of employment
Session In-charge: Dr. Ranjan Dash, Associate Professor, SSE

It is essential to construct a favourable macroeconomic environment for sustained job creation. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8, highlights the importance of growth and the need to provide full and productive employment and decent work for all. There is a strong need to facilitate a conducive macroeconomic environment stimulating growth and transforming economic activities associated with enterprises or firms, encouraging Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), entrepreneurship, training as well as encouraging diversification, technology and innovations, besides addressing issues of informal employment and others. These interventions act as drivers of economic growth and development - that respects human dignity, environmental sustainability and decent work.

While globally most economies are striving towards remaining above the pre pandemic level of employment no sooner than 2023. - it is clear that the first two decades of the 21st century have intermittently experienced major setbacks. These include the 2001 economic slowdown, 2007 Financial Crises and the COVID19 related distress - 2020 onwards and its aftermath. Additionally, technological innovations and disruptions have impacted employment scenarios.

This track therefore has the potential to throw light on:

1. Macroeconomic implications of growth, development and labour force growth
2. Employment elasticity of economic growth across countries - developed and developing countries
3. GDP and labour productivity
4. The changing employment structure across economies
5. Unemployment rates, labour force participation and poverty rates
6. How nations address the vast array of targets and indicators to address the employment challenges, as we inch closer towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

TRACK 2 : Employment in the Informal Sector
Session In-charge: Dr. V Kalyan Shankar, Assistant Professor, SSE

In 2020, the informal sector employed over two billion workers worldwide (ILO, 2020). As per the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS), over 90% of employment in India is informal. The informal segments of the economy are characterised by their heterogeneity of forms and structures, serving as a refuge for the vast majority of the poorly educated and unskilled. The ‘informal economy’ also serves as an umbrella term for occupations and enterprises that remain beyond the purview of the state, which gives rise to problems of definition and classification. Previously, the informal economy was defined solely through the lens of the enterprises that were beyond regulation; this restrictive definition has been expanded to cover employment relationships to include self-employed workers, home-based workers, contributing family labour, contractual labour among others.

In low income countries, informal workers engaged in street vending, construction, and domestic work among others, have been pushed into chronic poverty in the last couple of years due to closure of work and loss of livelihoods during the global pandemic. Paradoxically, the pandemic also saw an expansion of the informal sector, given the collapse of the small and medium enterprises. Moreover, Covid lockdowns witnessed mass internal migration of the informally labouring poor, seeking to return to their native places resulting in urban labour shortages. Further, the pandemic had a gendered impact; a greater proportion of women lost their jobs compared to men and in cases, are unlikely to return to employment in the near term. Even in middle and high income countries, with the decline of wage employment through processes of deregulation and flexibilization of labour, the informal economy has increased in its scope.

In this backdrop, this session will seek to address some key issues on the status of the informal economy that would provide directions for potential interventions.

1. employment status of different segments of the informal sector
2. trends in informal labour activities in wages, migration, gendered impact etc.
3. the process of deregulation of the informal sector
4. government measures that have impacted the employment and productivity of the informal sector.

Track 3: Women and Employment
Session In-charge: Dr. Niharika Singh, Assistant Professor, SSE

Women remain underrepresented in the workforce, they contribute mainly to part-time and unpaid care work, and receive lower hourly wages as compared to their male counterparts. They constitute 40 per cent of the global workforce (World Bank 2021) and in India, the female workforce has reduced to 19 percent.

Several steps have been taken at a global sphere to bridge the gender gap, with its initiation at the 1995 United Nations World Conference on Women held in Beijing. Some of the global objectives for action included the promotion of women’s economic rights and independence, women’s equal access to resources, employment, markets and trade, improved training, the elimination of occupational segregation and all forms of discrimination in employment and occupation, and a better sharing of family responsibilities between women and men. Much progress has been made towards achieving these goals, but gender disparity still persists in a major way, especially in opportunities for and quality of employment.

Active engagement in productive employment of women would contribute not only to faster economic growth but also to its long-term sustainability. Supporting their labour market participation is fundamental. Barriers to female participation in the labour market include a lack of adequate work-life balance policies, disincentives for second earners, excessive taxation of labour, stereotypes in fields of study and occupation.

With this backdrop, this track invites papers on the themes below but is not limited to the same:

1. Gender Gap in Employment
2. History of Women’s Work and wages
3. Women and the Glass - Ceiling
4. Women and well-being in workplace

Track 4: Labour Sector Reforms and Policies
Session In-charge: Dr. Ishita Ghosh, Assistant Professor, SSE

When Winston Churchill was working in the committee to form the United Nations after WWII, he famously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste”.

The 2020-21 pandemic has taught us many valuable lessons about the various facets of life, society and the economy and given the dynamic nature and repercussions of the crisis, global policy responses have typically concentrated on health and employment. Most countries are still struggling to achieve the objective of “better jobs for more people” and it is undeniable that the fine balance between structural reforms, skilling, matching and retaining valuable workers has proved to be extremely challenging in the prevailing global economic uncertainties.

Regions and countries need specific policies that will apply to their specific circumstances. Sectorally, many jobs have become redundant because of advancing technology, unsustainability during the pandemic, or both. While labour laws have been overhauled globally to suit the post-pandemic work culture and norms, worldwide, labour markets have a long way to go before the intricacies of Industry 4.0 and Sustainable Development Goals can be integrated into new policies to bring about meaningful reforms in the sector.

In this backdrop, Track 4 of FECO 2023 will attempt to understand some of the concerns, locally, nationally, regionally and globally and look into relevant questions such as:

In this backdrop, Track 4 of FECO 2023 will attempt to understand some of the concerns, locally, nationally, regionally and globally and look into relevant questions such as:

1. What are some of the labour sector reforms that are most important at this time of uncertainty?
2. What would be relevant issues and policy interventions at the sectoral levels, such as tourism, transport, agriculture, retail, healthcare, education, manufacturing, etc.?
3. What have been the efforts by policymakers to make labour markets oriented towards Sustainable Development Goals?
4. What is the trade-off between employment and social security and policy reforms to tackle this imbalance?

Track 5: COVID-19 and the Changing Employment Scenario
Session In-charge: Mr. Krishna Kant Roy, Assistant Professor, SSE

COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted labour markets globally since 2020. Perhaps the most obvious impact was the dramatic increase in employees working remotely while those that depended solely on customer-centric services faced the brunt of closures. Some of the key industries that were adversely affected by the pandemic lockdown were manufacturing, retail, transport, tourism which had a trickle down effect on hotels, restaurants, airports, and entertainment venues.

McKinsey (2020) found that most companies reported positive experiences with remote work during the pandemic and wished to continue the scenario post-COVID too. Working from home also resulted in a worldwide decrease in working hours, job insecurity, supply chain disruptions and altered the dynamics of the labour market in several sectors. The shift to remote work and related reduction in travel, along with automation of jobs have resulted in drastic reductions in recruitments across such sectors. Information Technology played a vital role with a quick embrace of remote workplaces and technological adaptations as the upper echelons of the society adjusted to the “new normal”. According to industry forecasts, there may be more than one1 billion remote employees by 2035, necessitating new and novel work arrangements.

This track will focus on the possibilities and challenges presented by the shifting job landscape in the post-Covid era. It will also explore various pathways and scenarios for the future of global employment. scenarios. This track invites papers that examine the changes that have been brought into the job profiles of various strata of the society including the youth, the migrants, and non-standard labour arrangements, such as platform workers. We invite theoretical and empirical articles that would look into issues like -

• How the pandemic has impacted the employees in various sectors and how their employment will evolve in the future.
• Role of IT infrastructure during the COVID situation and the future scenario
• How different countries responded to COVID and possible lessons for the coming years.
• Adapting to new forms of employment pathways like gig employment; remote working; platform jobs etc.