Labour and Employment

“The idea of ‘Self Reliant India’ or ‘Aatma-Nirbhar Bharat’ does not mean seeking self-centered arrangements or turning the country inwards. It is about self-belief leading to self-sufficiency.” -Shri Ram Nath Kovind, Hon’ble President of India

  1. Home
  2. About BRICS
  3. Labour and Employment

Labour and Employment

BRICS cooperation and coordination on Labour and Employment policies has been of critical importance for fostering of strong, sustainable and inclusive growth.

The First Ministerial Meeting on Labour & Employment was held in Ufa, Russia in January 2016 wherein informality in the labour market, labour mobility, social security and ensuring decent work were discussed. Labour and Employment Ministers also declared about establishing an Employment Working Group for focused attention on labour and employment issues in the same meeting.

India organised the second Ministerial Meeting on Labour and Employment in New Delhi, India in September 2016 wherein topics such as youth unemployment, job security, wage security, social security coverage, skill-enhancement and labour portability were discussed.

Labour Ministers met in China in July 2017 and endorsed the BRICS Social Security Cooperation Framework which outlines principles, objectives, areas and methods of cooperation. Ministers also reaffirmed the commitment to the development of a MOU on cooperation in the social and labour sphere.

Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the social and labour sphere was signed in Durban, South Africa 2018. The said MoU is aimed at facilitating BRICS countries to share knowledge and implement joint programmes on matter of labour and employment, social security and social dialogue. This has also ensured networking of international Training Centre of International Labour Organisation (ILO) with the BRICS Network of Labour Institutes. From India V.V. Giri National Labour Institute has been nominated. This network specifically focuses on the theme of youth employment and research on new forms of employment.

So far six BRICS Ministerial meetings of Labour and employment have been held. Russia organized the 6th meeting of Labour and Employment Ministers in Moscow on October 9, 2020 wherein Ministers asked the BRICS Network of Labour Research Institutes to conduct research on “Support of employment and income in the context of the COVID-19 crisis”.

The Ministerial meetings are supported by the Employment working group. The objective of Employment Working Group (EWG) is to discuss global labour market issues and share experiences in order to move forward BRICS in labour and employment.

Ministry of Labour and Employment