Changing Labor Markets: Launch of the WAPES (G7) Working Group
“Public employment services have an increasingly essential role and I am looking forward to the cooperation between WAPES and the G7 Employment Track in the months ahead.”  Ms Tomoko Onoda (Director, Office of G7 Ministerial Meetings, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Japan)
“This future-oriented strategic working group will allow WAPES to enhance support for its members and to increase the visibility of PES worldwide.”   Mr Noureddine BENKHALIL (WAPES President Director General ANAPEC, Morocco)

Changing Labor Markets: Launch of the WAPES (G7) Working Group

On 27th of January 2023, high-level representatives from the G7 Public Employment Services (PES Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States) came together to agree the work programme of the WAPES G7 Working Group for 2023 resulting in a Communication on PES and Greening Economies, a collection of good practices and a mutual-learning workshop.

In the second half of 2023, the work on this topic will be expanded to the WAPES (all) Working Group to cover the diversity of labour markets contexts and PES systems worldwide. Results from the exchange will be summarised in a WAPES Communication on greening economies.

A final WAPES workshop is planned in autumn 2023 to discuss PES priorities, measures, good practices and challenges with WAPES members and stakeholders such as the ILO, OECD, the European PES Network, social partners and service providers. The work will be supported by the new WAPES Communication Platform for members.

Inspired by the Communiqué issued during the German G7 Presidency, a dedicated WAPES G7 Working Group has been created as sub-group to start the process. In their communiqué of May 2022, ministers for labour, employment and social affairs highlighted the importance of Public Employment Services and also of the World Association of Public Employment Services as their global cooperation structure to adapt employment policies and services to changing labour markets. They also agreed to establish a G7 Employment Working Group.

Bringing PES expertise together, the new WAPES Working Group forms part of the WAPES strategy 2022-2025. This comprises two other key components under development: a WAPES Training Academy and a closer cooperation with the ILO in the context of the ILO Convention No. 88 on Employment Services. A Memorandum of Understanding between WAPES and ILO has been signed in November 2022.

Susanne Kraatz / Pierre-Alain Vandewalle (WAPES Executive Secretariat)