This was the main topic of the Tripartite Conference on Employment Policy in Russia organised jointly by the ILO and the Ministry of Labour of the Russian Federation and held on the outskirts of Moscow on 27 - 28 February 1996. The aim was to bring together key decision-makers from the Russian Government and workers and employers organisations, academic experts, and ILO officials to discuss various issues relevant to long-term employment policy in Russia. The ultimate aim was to promote productive employment and to mitigate the negative social effects of unemployment. Employment policy was considered as part of a broader economic policy in all its financial, tax, industrial (structural), regional, income, social, and education policy aspects. The main focus was on the Russian Federation, but experience from other transition countries and from Western industrialised economies was brought into the debate to widen its perspective.
The Russian participants included Gennadiy Melikyan, Minister of Labour, Akim Khromoshin, First Deputy Minister of Social Protection, Fedor Prokopov, Director of the Federal Employment Service, Vladimir Kolmogorov, Chairman of the Co-ordinating Council of Employers Associations, and Evgeny Osinkin, vice-president of FITUR, as well as 24 senior officials and representatives from the Presidents Office, 5 Federal Ministries and various other government bodies, employers organisations, trade unions, the Parliament, the Constitutional Court and academic institutions.
The ILO was represented by directors and experts from the Employment Department, the Moscow Office and ILO - CEET, Budapest.
The Conference was opened by G. Melikyan who emphasised the need to formulate a balanced employment policy which would promote productive employment both by creating new jobs and by better utilisation of economic potential and existing jobs. He expressed satisfaction at the timing of the Conference because the Government was in the process of preparing a set of policy measures to mitigate increasing labour market tensions: the conclusions of the Conference would be of great assistance in that task.
The Conference was divided into two parts. The first part was devoted to the discussion of critical employment policy issues. Representatives of the Government, employers and workers were invited to discuss the most urgent problems of the Russian labour market and to give their views on how the existing legislation and economic policy were addressing these problems and how they might be improved.
The main problems included increasing unemployment with widening regional differences and the shrinking number of vacancies. New jobs cannot be created without stabilising and developing national production; this, in turn, requires investment both for new programmes and for upgrading and better utilisation of existing capacities. Although the necessary capital exists in Russia a policy capable of transforming it into investment is still missing. Small and medium-sized enterprises - globally the most rapidly expanding sector as far as new employment is concerned - are lacking substantial support from the Government. They are hindered by poor access to credit, very high taxes and lack of protection against the mafia and other criminal elements.
However, the national economy is and will remain very much dependent on large enterprises which also need a good and internally consistent economic policy to stimulate their restructuring and sound economic development, access to bank credits for worthwhile projects, promotion of R&D and access to markets. Some speakers also mentioned the need to improve the system of education and training for upgrading the human capital which is now recognised to be so crucial for economic recovery; others stressed the need for adequate income protection of the population.
The second part of the Conference concentrated on the elaboration of policy recommendations. The first session was dedicated to the macroeconomic aspects of employment policy. Rolph van der Hoeven (ILO Geneva) summarised the experience of countries which have already gone through economic restructuring. Successful transformation was achieved by way of cautious fiscal and monetary policies, a well-defined and stable industrial policy, rapid development of human capital and minimisation of income differences among the population.
In the second session - which dealt with regional and sectoral issues - Werner Sengenberger (ILO Geneva) advocated a ¥high road strategy to re-activate production and to promote employment. The aim of this strategy is to create an enabling business environment for constructive competition in regions through new forms of work organisation at the enterprise and regional/local administrative levels. Key factors in this are good working conditions, a skilled and highly motivated workforce, and solid social protection.
The third session focused on the labour market and social policy aspects of the problem. Alena Nesporova (ILO - CEET) assessed the education, labour market, wage and social protection policies of the Russian Government and made recommendations for their refinement.
The final session was devoted to the discussion of the policy recommendations drafted by the ILO. The policy recommendations were well received by all the participants who appreciated their relevance and importance for the policy-making process in the Russian Federation. The participants also stressed the Conferences usefulness, particularly insofar as it had encouraged dialogue and made available much international experience on these crucial issues. AN
