OP-ED
YASSER HASSAN, ILO Director for Türkiye
Commemorating the lost lives with sorrow, ILO works for the recovery from the devastating earthquakes.
6 February 2024
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Türkçe
Today is 6 February 2024. One year after the devastating earthquake, which hit the southern region of Türkiye taking the lives of tens of thousands of people.
Once again, my deep condolences to those who have lost their loved ones because of this tragedy, and my sincere respect for the many individuals who have been providing emergency support and rescue efforts on the ground to help the injured and restore livelihoods.
With nearly 4 million workers, that region accounted for approximately 12% of total employment in Türkiye. The earthquake disrupted the labour markets there. Job opportunities decreased due to business closures, primarily caused by the destruction, and migrations from the affected region to other provinces added more complexities. Skilled workers who migrated faced difficulties returning back, with implications on the region's long-term economic sustainability. In addition, the earthquake exacerbated existing challenges, including high poverty rates, informal employment, and other difficulties for the disadvantaged groups including youth, women, people with disabilities, migrants and refugees.
Data provided by Turkish authorities indicated to a substantial decline in job opportunities in the earthquake-affected region. The number of wage earners has contracted by 23.6 percent, equating to 446 thousand individuals, while the number of workplaces has experienced a notable decrease of approximately 30.2 percent, surpassing 66 thousand. In the provinces of Adıyaman, Hatay, Malatya, and Kahramanmaraş, these contractions have exceeded 50 percent.
In response to labour market-related challenges, the Turkish government implemented measures during the state of emergency. “short-time working” applications were processed, aiming to prevent layoffs, and support was expedited for the short-term working allowance planned for employers. Cash wage support was provided for workers with existing employment contracts as of the earthquake date, and the Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR) initiated the Public Work Program to prevent unemployment and provide temporary income support. As an organisation able to learn and develop, ISKUR has been geared to support the rapid, short and long-term reintegration of job seekers into the labour market.
The government's commitment to addressing earthquake-related challenges is distinctly reflected in several national documents. In particular, the 12th Development Plan spanning the years 2024 to 2028 adopts a holistic disaster management approach that includes risk reduction and disaster preparedness, as well as efforts to minimize losses and damage through effective response during disasters, while also supporting the improvement of post-disaster recovery and reconstruction efforts.
As an immediate response, the ILO, with the financial support of its development partners in Türkiye, supported the efforts of the constituents so that labour market services to workers and employers are not interrupted. This included emergency needs such as tents, hygiene products and containers to ISKUR service units, for the continuation of labour market services they provide.
Child-friendly spaces were established in Hatay, Adıyaman, and Diyarbakır considering the increased risk of resorting to child labour in such vulnerable situation.
Through several partnerships, including with the Women's Associations Federation, the ILO continues to provide psychosocial support for affected communities.
The close partnerships the ILO Office for Türkiye has with Sweden, UK, EU, KFW, CAOBISCO, and FERRERO have been instrumental in providing such support and remain indispensable for forward actions.
The challenges are huge and vulnerabilities remain in the region. Given the repercussions on employment and decent work, including rights at work, social protection and social dialogue, it is critical to think of combining short and long-term measures in order to contribute to crisis mitigation, recovery and resilience.
Resilience is about the capacity to recover from the aftermath of shocks such as natural disasters, in ways that support economic and social development and reduce vulnerability. It is therefore a goal rather than an approach in itself.
Reconstruction of a damaged infrastructure following natural catastrophic events, even if sophisticated, complex and expensive can become an opportunity to regenerating decent work towards sustainability and resilience.
Considering the need for wide range of new residential units and workplaces, construction activities in the earthquake region are expected to accelerate. However, there are anticipated risks associated with the expansion of the construction activities including with regard to occupational safety and health, which emerges as a primary concern.
Also, enterprises recovery through public sector policies and institutional support to business environment and investment climate must be prioritized together with direct support to improve the productive capacity of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
In addition, in disaster settings, women’s working conditions plummet. Their workload is greatly increased due to damaged infrastructure, housing and workplaces, the need to compensate for declining family income and social services, and the need to care for children, older persons and persons with disabilities.
Therefore, we need to increase women’s mobility, time, capacity and opportunities for income generation as well as to support efforts to prevent all forms of violence and harassment in the world of work. The recovery processes would be an opportunity to create decent living and working conditions for all women and men.
Looking ahead, we need to continue enhancing knowledge of the characteristics of the labour market in the earthquake region, which is fundamental to designing and implementing effective interventions. The ILO continues to develop comprehensive labour market research to support its constituents in their efforts for the recovery with an evidence-based approach.
Our experience in the ILO shows that in order to gain substantial leverage in such situations we need to use specific entry points:
Once again, my deep condolences to those who have lost their loved ones because of this tragedy, and my sincere respect for the many individuals who have been providing emergency support and rescue efforts on the ground to help the injured and restore livelihoods.
With nearly 4 million workers, that region accounted for approximately 12% of total employment in Türkiye. The earthquake disrupted the labour markets there. Job opportunities decreased due to business closures, primarily caused by the destruction, and migrations from the affected region to other provinces added more complexities. Skilled workers who migrated faced difficulties returning back, with implications on the region's long-term economic sustainability. In addition, the earthquake exacerbated existing challenges, including high poverty rates, informal employment, and other difficulties for the disadvantaged groups including youth, women, people with disabilities, migrants and refugees.
Data provided by Turkish authorities indicated to a substantial decline in job opportunities in the earthquake-affected region. The number of wage earners has contracted by 23.6 percent, equating to 446 thousand individuals, while the number of workplaces has experienced a notable decrease of approximately 30.2 percent, surpassing 66 thousand. In the provinces of Adıyaman, Hatay, Malatya, and Kahramanmaraş, these contractions have exceeded 50 percent.
In response to labour market-related challenges, the Turkish government implemented measures during the state of emergency. “short-time working” applications were processed, aiming to prevent layoffs, and support was expedited for the short-term working allowance planned for employers. Cash wage support was provided for workers with existing employment contracts as of the earthquake date, and the Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR) initiated the Public Work Program to prevent unemployment and provide temporary income support. As an organisation able to learn and develop, ISKUR has been geared to support the rapid, short and long-term reintegration of job seekers into the labour market.
The government's commitment to addressing earthquake-related challenges is distinctly reflected in several national documents. In particular, the 12th Development Plan spanning the years 2024 to 2028 adopts a holistic disaster management approach that includes risk reduction and disaster preparedness, as well as efforts to minimize losses and damage through effective response during disasters, while also supporting the improvement of post-disaster recovery and reconstruction efforts.
As an immediate response, the ILO, with the financial support of its development partners in Türkiye, supported the efforts of the constituents so that labour market services to workers and employers are not interrupted. This included emergency needs such as tents, hygiene products and containers to ISKUR service units, for the continuation of labour market services they provide.
Child-friendly spaces were established in Hatay, Adıyaman, and Diyarbakır considering the increased risk of resorting to child labour in such vulnerable situation.
Through several partnerships, including with the Women's Associations Federation, the ILO continues to provide psychosocial support for affected communities.
The close partnerships the ILO Office for Türkiye has with Sweden, UK, EU, KFW, CAOBISCO, and FERRERO have been instrumental in providing such support and remain indispensable for forward actions.
The challenges are huge and vulnerabilities remain in the region. Given the repercussions on employment and decent work, including rights at work, social protection and social dialogue, it is critical to think of combining short and long-term measures in order to contribute to crisis mitigation, recovery and resilience.
Resilience is about the capacity to recover from the aftermath of shocks such as natural disasters, in ways that support economic and social development and reduce vulnerability. It is therefore a goal rather than an approach in itself.
Reconstruction of a damaged infrastructure following natural catastrophic events, even if sophisticated, complex and expensive can become an opportunity to regenerating decent work towards sustainability and resilience.
Considering the need for wide range of new residential units and workplaces, construction activities in the earthquake region are expected to accelerate. However, there are anticipated risks associated with the expansion of the construction activities including with regard to occupational safety and health, which emerges as a primary concern.
Also, enterprises recovery through public sector policies and institutional support to business environment and investment climate must be prioritized together with direct support to improve the productive capacity of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
In addition, in disaster settings, women’s working conditions plummet. Their workload is greatly increased due to damaged infrastructure, housing and workplaces, the need to compensate for declining family income and social services, and the need to care for children, older persons and persons with disabilities.
Therefore, we need to increase women’s mobility, time, capacity and opportunities for income generation as well as to support efforts to prevent all forms of violence and harassment in the world of work. The recovery processes would be an opportunity to create decent living and working conditions for all women and men.
Looking ahead, we need to continue enhancing knowledge of the characteristics of the labour market in the earthquake region, which is fundamental to designing and implementing effective interventions. The ILO continues to develop comprehensive labour market research to support its constituents in their efforts for the recovery with an evidence-based approach.
Our experience in the ILO shows that in order to gain substantial leverage in such situations we need to use specific entry points:
- The first is supporting the recovery-to-development transition. It is important to ensure that the early engagement is continued and integrated in any longer-term plans, and that stakeholders are supported in transitioning from relief to recovery-to-development.
- The second is the generation and dissemination of basic labour-related data on the impact of a crisis on employment, livelihoods, fundamental principles and rights at work (FPRWs) and social protection. This provides a credible opportunity to put the emphasis of recovery on the social and livelihoods dimensions of all efforts.
- The third is the involvement of the employers’ and workers’ organizations in the process. As a tripartite organization, the ILO works to ensure that when responding to multifaceted challenges like these, the reinforcing of social partners’ roles and capacities receive the needed attention when shaping policies and their implementation. Decent work can contribute to sustainable recovery and development only if social partners have the capacity to participate effectively in reconstruction and resilience efforts through inclusive social dialogue.