As part of the series of Provincial Advocacy Meetings on Registered Employment and the Impacts of Refugees on the Labor Market, a meeting was held in Manisa with the participation of experts from the Directorate Generals of İŞKUR and the International Labor Force, the Manisa Provincial Director of Social Security and the Manisa Provincial Director of Labor and Employment Institution, as well as representatives of local labor market governance institutions.

During the meeting, the works conducted to increase the rate of registered employment in the overall labor market were discussed, ideas were exchanged on the current situation of migration to Türkiye and the current status of refugees in the country was clarified. It was agreed that the most effective approach to the achievement of the targets would be to prioritize social inclusion and interinstitutional integration.

The representatives of the institutions involved in the meeting commented on the importance of cooperation, while the participating experts highlighted the significance of discussions and exchanges of ideas about informality. The participants went on to identify the problems encountered in their institutions, and suggestions of how to address them were put forward.

The next meeting was held in Izmir, which, like Manisa, attracted broad participation and interest.

The meeting was moderated by Prof. Dr. Kamil Orhan, a Pamukkale University lecturer, and was attended by the Izmir Provincial Director of Social Security, the Deputy Provincial Director of the Labor and Employment Institution, and representativeness of all other provincial labor market governance institutions. In the opening remarks, registered employment was identified as the key to the achievement of the goal of developing decent job opportunities, and the need to reduce the adverse impacts of informality on both the labor market in general and, ultimately, on the national economy was also touched upon.

Yavuz Kurt, Izmir Provincial Director of the Social Security Institution (SGK),

stated that since an informal economy constitutes a serious obstacle to the accurate projection of the future of a country, it is extremely essential to ensure registered employment, and noted that while one in every two people was working unregistered until 25 years ago, this rate has decreased to 27 percent today. He stressed that the fight against informality is continuing through cross-checking methods and collaborations with the relevant institutions.

Provincial Director Kurt emphasized that there were three main objectives in this struggle, and listed them as:

• To secure the efforts of workers;
• To prevent unfair competition among employers; and
• To transmit social security systems to future generations in an actuarially sound and financially sustainable manner.

After all institutions shared the problems they encountered and put forward suggested solutions, Gökçe Aydoğdu of the Izmir Development Agency raised three important issues related to unemployment:

1. The need to match labor demand with labor supply;
2. The need to plan the labor needs in the labor market with focus on training; the need to develop a labor market for green works; and
3. The need to address unemployed young people and women as two separate groups.

The meeting concluded with a Q&A session and discussions.

The above-mentioned series of Provincial Advocacy Meetings are being conducted as part of the Promoting Resilience and Social Cohesion through Decent Livelihood Opportunities Project, financed by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).