ILO, NECA unveil report on workplace ‘Next Normal’

The International Labour Organisation (ILO), through its Bureau for Employers’ Activities (ACT/EMP), in collaboration with Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), has unveiled a survey report as part of a global research for Africa to understudy how COVID-19 pandemic and technology are shaping the next normal.  
   
Presenting the report titled ‘The Next Normal: The Changing Workplace in Nigeria,’ President of NECA, Taiwo Adeniyi, said the move by the duo was another proactive and innovative approach to its campaign for a friendly business environment in Nigeria using the support of evidence-based advocacy. 
   
According to the report, beyond the loss of human lives were the loss of jobs, negative impact on employers and businesses.
He said globally, business operation was disrupted, which brought about changes in work system, as it relates to human resource management, workplace structure and mode of work.
  
He said most organisations were compelled to embrace remote work options, flexible work hours and the changes affected both employers and employees in diverse ways.
  
While productivity, costs of doing business, income and profit of business organisations were affected; he said that workers suffered disruption in work hours, wages and salaries and employment loss in some cases.
  
He said the research on changing workplace presented a collection of views on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on businesses and work in Nigeria.
  
According to him, it describes the varying ways in which the pandemic has affected work and the workplace; changing production strategies; the role of labour law and regulatory framework in navigating the pandemic; adaptation of businesses in terms of upskilling and reskilling needs and management of human resources.
    
“One critical evidence from the study is the indication that COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of remote work practices such as “work-from-anywhere,” a form of work anticipated in the future of work initiatives of the ILO.  While adoption of work-from-anywhere in organisations is likely to increase, as the pandemic winds down, it is likely that hybrid-remote arrangements will become the norm at workplaces globally. Employers have to prepare for a “Next Normal,” he said.
 
Making a formal launch of the report, Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, canvassed for an inclusive, resilient workplace to adopt a ‘next normal’ in the workplace.
    
He said while reviewing and establishing the next normal, importance must be accorded to different modules that had been projected by the international community based on multilateral approach to human advancement.
   
In determining the ‘next normal’, Ngige said it was important the ILO’s four-pillar policy framework, based on international labour standards, for tackling the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 to aid in the recovery and building better was acknowledged.
   
The four pillars, according to him provided guidance to member states on the building blocks for a human-centred recovery devoid of inequality.

Ngige said the report, which has four thematic areas of coverage – working space; workplace and labour laws; skill development, knowledge sharing and productivity; and human resource management are all human-centred and in tandem with the global quest to build forward, better and sustainably. 
   
With all hands on deck, especially the social partners, he added that it was certain that Nigeria would not be left behind in the quest.