IOE also took the lead in coordinating business follow-up to the G20 youth employment commitments by setting up the Global Apprenticeships Network (GAN) in 2013.
2010 - 2020 Championing business in global relations
As the voice of business in a rapidly changing world, IOE was never more needed than this past decade by the more than 50 million companies we represent in 150 countries. At the start of 2020, IOE had 159 members in 150 countries. Business and industry have transformed at a breakneck pace during this decade, as our members, and their members faced disruption from political, public health, technology and economic changes.
IOE continued to support the Employers’ Group at ILO but also expanded considerably its advocacy efforts with an array of multilateral organisations and platforms from the G20, the United Nations, the World Bank, the Global Compact and many others.
VOICES FROM THE PRESENT
“Employers fundamentally believe in a fair playing field in the world of work. No one should be left behind…The strength of the ILO is its unique tripartite governance structure…nowhere else do the silos between the principal actors in the world of work breakdown and work together towards a better future. ”
When financial markets were roiled by the 2008 economic crisis, the G20 became an important part of global governance. Whereas in 2008, the G20 Summit in Washington DC, focused almost exclusively on the financial system, half a year later in London, G20 leaders acknowledged the role of employment in achieving a sustained recovery. Since then, jobs and skills have been a focus of every G20 Leader’s Declaration.
The GAN is a business-led public private partnership, with the overarching goal of encouraging and linking business initiatives on skills and employment opportunities for youth - notably through apprenticeships, work-readiness programmes and work-based training.
Today, GAN has 16 national networks and comprises 11 member companies around the world. It has provided more than 20 million skilling opportunities for youth in more than 20 countries.
VOICES FROM THE PRESENT
“If the UN wants the SDGs to be successfully implemented on the ground and improve people’s lives, it needs to engage with employers and business federations.”
Over the past 20 years, the link between business and human rights were increasingly debated in view of globalisation, privatisation, rapid growth of civil society groups and increased consumer awareness. IOE played an instrumental role in the development of the “protect, respect and remedy” framework, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which operationalise the framework and were endorsed by the Human Rights Council in June 2011. Together with USCIB and the US Chambers of Commerce and hosted by The Coca-Cola Company, IOE has been sponsor of the annual human rights conference in Atlanta since its beginning 2008 and established a similar annual conference format in Europe.
VOICES FROM THE PRESENT
“Human rights are of very, very great importance both for all of us as citizens but also for enterprises and for their representatives... In countries where the implementation and the respect of human rights is good, it is also better and easier for businesses to be good employers and do good business so we do see a very concrete link between the possibility to be a good employer and the respect and the enforcement of human rights by the governments.”
As technological advances in artificial intelligence cause widespread disruption in the workplace, anticipating these changes and equipping employer organisations and their members with the knowledge on how best to respond has been a major focus of IOE’s work this past decade.
In 2016, IOE published one of the most comprehensive reviews on the subject. The strength of the publication is both the analysis of the trends, along with a detailed list of practical and achievable recommendations on how best to adapt to this rapidly and constantly changing business environment. Following this landmark publication, IOE began focusing its work in this policy area on promoting skills development. This remains one of the institution’s top priorities.
IOE brought this expertise to an ILO initiative carrying out a global reflection on the future of work in the lead up to ILO’s Centenary. IOE’s Vice-President to the ILO and Employers’ Group Spokesperson, Mthunzi Mdwaba, was nominated to be one of the core participants.
The result of this yearlong effort left Mr. Mdwaba, together with a large portion of IOE members, dissatisfied as the recommendations failed among other issues to mention the positive role of the private sector and the shared responsibility of all stakeholders to define a future of work that supports employers and employees. Their views would have been well understood by previous IOE leaders from Jules Carlier to Pierre Wahline to Naval Tata.
However, the hard work undertaken by IOE leaders to change the direction of ILO led to a historical tripartite agreement on the occasion of the ILO Centenary: its Centenary Declaration. This historical document strengthens the leadership and credibility of ILO as it is inspired by a proper recognition of the role of the private sector together with the need to assure a proper business environment.
Sustainability, green jobs and decent work have been on IOE’s policy agenda since the 2000s. We, together with our members, made critical contributions to the negotiations that resulted in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
IOE set up a global policy group of employer representatives to bring substantive inputs to UN efforts towards achieving Agenda 2030. The aim is to build a library of how businesses are integrating sustainability practices in their strategies and work streams, together with consolidating positions on private sector contributions to achieving SDG targets.
