The World Employment Confederation (formerly Ciett) has called for cooperation with global policymakers to cooperate with the employment industry to enhance international labour regulation and seize the opportunities of the future world of work.

The World Employment Confederation (WEC) states that new global labour policies and regulation are required to deal with issues that go beyond national or regional borders. The WEC sees this as essential to embrace the many structural shifts that are currently taking place around the world.

WEC states, with figures from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), that while almost 200 million people are unemployed at the global level, 61% of companies around the world experience difficulty recruiting staff, mostly due to shortages of skilled staff. This issue is key as 72% of HR professionals say that talent scarcity has negatively affected their business and 45% believe it has threatened leadership continuity and succession. Adopting appropriate regulation will contribute to reduce the mismatch between supply and demand of work and will lead to better functioning labour markets.

“We are not facing an employment crisis but a work revolution in which intertwined labour markets require more supra-national- check this regulation while respecting national differences”, Denis Pennel, Managing Director of the World Employment Confederation, said. “The creation of global employment policies and instruments that can be implemented, regulated and enforced will be crucial to a sustainable future of work. This should be based on transparent, fair and sensible principles that reward risk-taking and innovation. International policymakers will have to play a greater role in setting guiding principles and rules in the future.”

Speaking exclusively to Staffing Industry Analysts, Pennel addressed the ILO figures on unemployment and skills shortages. He commented: “We have to start first by bringing together the world of education with the world of work and the world of business. We have to look at different means to do that. One of the means that we looked at, especially in Europe, is apprenticeships, working while learning.”

In a white paper released today on the “The Future of Work”, the World Employment Confederation analyses in detail how employment conditions are changing around the world and provide a number of policy recommendations on how to adapt accordingly.

Our industry is really at the forefront of all of the changes that are taking place in the labour market,” Pennel told Staffing Industry Analysts. “We feel that the future of work is already taking place. In this white paper we try to analyse and identify the key trends, what are the challenges and the risks associated with these changes and  provide proposals and recommendations.”

“In the future of work, when it comes to temporary work, clearly there is a role ” Pennel told Staffing Industry Analysts. “Companies need to be able to adapt to unexpected peaks of activity and clearly what  agency work can provide are temporary workforce solutions.”

“It is my belief that in the future, we will see more and more of third party employment relationship, where you have a worker, a company and an intermediary to provide ranges of HR services and to provide matching services,” Pennel said.

Pennel also states that temporary work can lead to permanent employment within a company.

“Future of Work” also discusses the regulation of employment around the world.

“This is the end of work as we knew it! In this complex economic environment, regulation on employment matters should adopt a “global” approach, thinking globally about overall guidelines and provisions that can be transposed into national regulations with some flexibility. Policymakers should create easy-to-understand, employment-friendly labour laws facilitating cross-border expansion of businesses” said Annemarie Muntz, President of the World Employment Confederation.

“We are experiencing a new reality of work and our industry is at the core of this change, playing an important role as labour market enablers and allowing for improved access to work and prosperity. It is vital that we act alongside policymakers to maximise the many opportunities we are being presented with under the right economic and social conditions”,  Vice-President of the World Employment Confederation, Hans Leentjes, said.

“Faced with new challenges, our industry has evolved from providing candidates and filling job vacancies to creating innovative workforce solutions and shaping careers. With IT becoming a key component of employment services, the industry is moving towards more tailored-made, output based and talent oriented solutions” World Employment Confederation president Annemarie Muntz, said.

After nearly 50 years of history, Ciett, the International Confederation of Private Employment Services, has rebranded to its new name, the World Employment Confederation. WEC states that it will continue to be the global voice of the employment industry and to advocate for better functioning labour markets.

“Our new name better reflects the evolution of our membership, including national federations and companies on all continents, as well as our thought leadership when it comes to the world of work, Pennel said. “Today, our members provide a broad range of HR services including agency work, direct recruitment, career management, recruitment process outsourcing and managed services in order to simplify the increasing complexity of the labour market.”

“We are very excited about the name change. Clearly what we want is the to become the global association and the voice of the employment industry, bringing together all the HR services and we are very open to welcome any new members,” Pennel told Staffing Industry Analysts.