Indian Council of World Affairs

Concept Note

More than half of the world’s global share of migration is attributable to migration for work. As of 2018, migrant workers constituted a total of 59.2 percent out of all international migrants. (ILO estimates) India stands as a major country of origin for workers across the world with a particular concentration found in US, UK and the Gulf region. Indian migrant workers today occupy a diverse range of job roles globally, congruent to theirlevel of skill and expertise. Skills thus play an important role in migrating for work and constitute a key focus area for migration policy and practice. Skill levels for the migrant workers not only determine access to the labour market but also other factors such as remuneration, working conditions and the extent of knowledge transfer and re-integration upon return.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted labour migration at large. Migrant workers have had to bear the brunt of enforced lockdowns which have brought commercial and infrastructural activity to a standstill. However, while jobs in sectors such as tourism, construction and manufacturing have been impacted negatively, IT, telecommunication and digital work in general is positioned to benefit. As a result of these changed circumstances, the skilling ecosystem demands to be realigned to cater to new jobs and new destinations. Within Europe, jobs in automated processes, robotics and artificial intelligence are likely to increase due to rapid advances in digital technology. In 2019, job vacancy rates, including in these sectors, increased in Czech Republic (5.9 %), Belgium (3.4 %), Germany (3.3 %) and the Netherlands (3.2 %). (Eurostat) In the Asia-Pacific region, sectors such as wholesale and retail trade have witnessed the largest growth amounting to 1.9% (ILO estimates).

As a result, it is crucial to develop programmes strategically for upskilling and reskilling migrant workers in light of the changing nature of the labour market while reintegrating returnee migrants through recognition of existing skills and learnings. A step in this direction is the Skilled Worker Database for Employment Support launched by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to facilitate matching of skills with corresponding job roles. Further, state governments are also starting the exercise of skill mapping and matching for returnee migrant workers in quarantine centres. Bihar and Odisha are a case in point.The Madhya Pradesh government has launched the RozgarSetu app which will enable migrant workers to register and find jobs in the fields related to their skills. Industry Chambers such as the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) are planning to conduct a snapshot survey across the country to assess the potential work opportunities for migrant workers. These efforts are crucial for effectively reintegrating returnee workers into the workforce. Adequate and appropriate skilling can insulate migrants against the vagaries of a volatile labour market and cushion the impact of the pandemic.

In this backdrop, the India Centre for Migration seeks to organise a virtual discussion titled, “Rethinking Skilling amidst Covid-19: Prospects and Challenges”. The discussion aims to deliberate (but will not be limited to) the following issues –

• Examining the overall impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on international labour migration from India.
• Highlighting new challenges and opportunities for international skill training raised by Covid-19.
• Developing strategies to improve data collection for migration across different job roles in Non-ECR categories to enhance skilling initiatives.
• Job role and industry specific skill training that includes but not limited to Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), reskilling and upskilling.
• Flagging emerging sectors and labour markets as new migrant worker destinations.
• Realigning the skilling ecosystem with the changing global labour market in light of Covid- 19.
• Mapping new opportunities driven by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
• Ascertaining opportunities and challenges associated with equivalency of skill certification and mutual recognition of skills.
• Role of mobility partnerships and social security agreements in facilitating mobility.
• Increased coordination with state governments specially those that witness high emigration of workers.