Demographic, socio-economic and environmental transformations are increasing the demand for care workers many of whom are migrant workers employed in a wide variety of care jobs at varying skill levels. The vast majority of these migrant workers are women. Patterns of recruitment and mobility are increasingly complex as is the nature and terms of employment. How does labour migration infrastructure and new forms of working provide safe recruitment pathways and opportunities for decent work? 

In this webinar, PSI’s Genevieve Gencianos speaks about the challenges and opportunities on achieving fair and ethical recruitment for migrant workers, lifting from the lessons learned from the covid-19 pandemic. Countries engaged on active recruitment to address staffing shortages, which was already a problem even before the pandemic struck. She highlights how migrant health care workers, a majority of whom are women, were a crucial yet undervalued members of the workforce at the frontlines and who often faced the highest risks due to poor working conditions and insecure employment. She underscores the three key elements necessary towards a rights-based, socially-just and socially sustainable health worker migration governance: fair and ethical recruitment, strengthening health workers’ rights and social dialogue. 

This session was organised by International Labour Organization.