Stressing upon a ‘job centric development agenda’, Ms. Polaski provided a global perspective on the challenges faced in the ‘future of work’ in general, and India, in particular. She highlighted the current scenario on employment trends and challenges faced in meeting the standards of work in a context of increasingly globalized production and trade networks. Her lecture urged the policy makers to adapt to the changing reality in the wake of rapidly changing work conditions and shift towards formality in employment in a context of technological innovations and global restructuring of production and trade strategies, stressing on the “need to adapt to the complex and emerging global realities in the worlds of production and work without compromising on the employment friendly development agenda”.

The lecture was followed by special comments by Mr. P.P. Mitra (Principal Labour and Employment Adviser, Ministry of Labour & Employment, GOI), Professor T.C.A. Anant (Secretary, Department of Statistics, GOI), Professor Gita Sen (Centre for Public Policy, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and Adjunct Professor of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health) and Professor S.R. Hashim, IHD Chairman, who presided over the function.

This lecture marked the beginning of IHD’s 2nd Decennial Lecture Series, organized by IHD in collaboration with Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India and ILO Decent Work Team for South Asia and Country Office for India.