24 October, 2011
Today in Geneva, representatives from trade unions, governments, and businesses start deliberating on employment restructuring and social dialogue in the chemicals and pharmaceutical industries as part of an ILO sectoral meeting. “Promoting Social Dialogue on Restructuring and its Effects on Employment in the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries” is the name of the four-day meeting (24-27 October) in which 90 representatives from 40 countries will participate.
The meeting’s aim is to unleash sustainable ways through positive industrial relations to meet restructuring processes. Social partners will explore the best practices of social dialogue in seeking constructive and conducive climates during corporate structural change, including mergers and acquisitions. The ICEM and affiliated trade unions will fully participate in the conference.
The centerpiece of the meeting will be an ILO report entitled “Restructuring Employment and Social Dialogue in the Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Industries” that details, among other things, the effects of the global economic crisis on these sectors. The ILO says, for example, that the 27 European Union Member States saw employment drop from three million workers in 2005 to 2.8 million in 2008, but that the job level has increased since to 3.1 million in the first quarter 2010.
In the US, ILO places the 2008-2009 drop in chemicals and pharmaceutical employment at 70,000 jobs, or 5.1% of the total workforce for these sectors. ILO estimates that 20 million workers are now employed in the sectors worldwide, with the 27 EU states, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, and the US accounting for 60% of that figure.
The report also takes note of longer working hours in certain countries, and identifies a shortage of skilled workers such as scientists and others that present poignant challenges to the sectors. It also notes the relative low number of women working across the sector, particularly at the executive level where the percentage is far less than the average of Fortune 500 companies. The report also covers the effects of outsourcing and contract labour in the sectors.