Sabina Dewan

Recent discontent in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar has been manifesting in a different kind of collective action: ‘job riots’. Perhaps this is unsurprising, given the employment crisis that plagues India, but the crisis in UP is in the spotlight because the state is in the throes of a high-stakes election.

How practical is it to aspire to be self-employed? Does it pay off for all those who venture? What are the pitfalls?

With 1.4 billion people, India is well on its way to becoming the world’s most populous country, beating China. Our youth population alone is larger than the total population of the US, or that of any other industrialized country. It is understandable then that a quest to achieve scale is among the top priorities of the government’s development interventions.

This paper seeks to take stock of the main dimensions shaping the future of work in the South and South East Asia and present key messages and policy recommendations to create an innovative and inclusive future of work.

Labour regulations in India are as sensitive a subject as they are complex and cumbersome. Workers are often rightly identified as the lifeblood of any organization or industry.

Over the last three decades, the world has seen a shift away from arms-length trade brokered through trade agreements between governments toward a fragmentation of production processes across nations carried out through private transactions between firms. 

The pandemic is accelerating the advancement of technology, which was already restructuring labor markets. For many, technology has enhanced efficiency and enabled remote work, but for others, it has disrupted livelihoods. The key question is this: Whose jobs will vanish and who can access the new forms of work?

Sabina Dewan, JJN President and Executive Director, writes a piece with Ekkehard Ernst, International Labour Organization, on "Rethinking the World of Work" for the International Monetary Fund's quarterly magazine "Finance & Development".

As the nature of work changes and more individuals derive an income from platform work, existing labour and social protection regulations are no longer fit for purpose. JJN and the Centre for Financial Regulation and Inclusion (Cenfri), with support from the German Development Corporation GIZ, conducted an initial scoping study that sheds light on employment, working conditions and labour and policy regimes for platform workers.

"Around the world, the pandemic is rendering once-safe jobs potentially unviable. What must governments do to keep the ambition of full, productive and decent employment for all alive?" JJN President and Executive Director Sabina Dewan contributes an article to the latest report by the United Nations Association - UK and Witan Media "Sustainable Development Goals. Building Back Better"