Inclusive Plug Episode 22: It Isn’t Just About the Number of Jobs, but Also the Quality of Jobs

Speaking of employment, let’s admit it: we tend to care more about the number of jobs created. Ask a politician up for election, or a project manager preparing an annual report on employment…

Then comes who’s getting the jobs — women, men, people from rural areas, ethnic minorities, young people. The type of job seems to be an afterthought despite many years of discussions.

It’s high time to address this misplaced priority.

As a follow up to the blog post written by Zenebe Uraguchi, for this episode, the guests were:

• Katharina Walker - a senior advisor on skills development at Helvetas. She has provided strategic and technical support to various projects in the Western Balkans, the Eastern Partnership region, and in Myanmar. Katharina also has substantial experience in backstopping thematic networks. Having worked at a German Chamber of Commerce in India, Katharina is highly experienced in engaging the private sector. In Switzerland, she carried out extensive policy-related research as well as consultancies on Vocational Education and Training and labor markets.
• Stephen Hartrich - a project coordinator of the systems change initiative, supporting the International Labour Organization and donor-funded projects to adopt a systemic approach to decent work. Steve has over 14 years of experience working in Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific as an engineer and market systems development professional in public, private, and multilateral organizations. He’s specialized in the market systems approach to development, value chain development, private sector development, and monitoring and results measurement.
• Edlira Muedini - a manager of the RisiAlbania project of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, implemented by Helvetas, aimed at enhancing youth employment in Albania. The goal is to create better employment and income opportunities for young Albanians. Edlira has a vast experience in managing development projects as well as working in the private sector.

To watch the episode, click here.

To listen to the episode on the go, the sound format is available on Spotify, Anchor, Breaker, Google, Pocket Casts, and RadioPublic.

Please send us your feedback about the episode in the comment section below.

We have interesting topics coming up, so stay tuned!