Published on 9th December 2021
For the third year now, the World Employment Confederation is shining a light on its national federations that have particularly contributed to advancing the private employment services industry and enhancing labour markets.
Three categories are open for competition: “Leadership in Social Innovation”, “Outstanding Advocacy” and “Rising Federation”. This year’s finalists are really coming from all parts of the world, showing a good diversity of initiatives and reflecting the strong engagement of WEC members. But there could only be one winner.
In Norway the temporary agency work industry came under great political pressure from left wing parties and trade unions, with several propositions put forward to restrict or ban the sector’s activities. As the country was approaching parliamentary elections in autumn 2021 and the left-wing parties seemed likely to take power, the industry decided to proactively engage with local politicians and change their perception of the temporary agency work sector.
NHO established an Ambassadors Programme, enrolling members’ representatives in all regions of the country. With a strong communication strategy and material support, the ambassadors engaged in the political debate at local level. Through this network, the sector could ensure a broader outreach than it would have, counting only on the national association’s staff. The work is proving impactful, given the changes observed in political programs and the political debate around temporary agency work.
Watch NHO SH’s winning speech by Even Hagelien, Director of Staffing Industry.
During the Covid crisis, Italian national federation Assolavoro, together with the trade unions, implemented a series of measures and tools aimed at ensuring continuity of income to agency workers and extending welfare benefits for them (healthcare, childcare, IT equipment, etc.). Through a sectoral Solidarity fund, over 310 million Euros have been disbursed in 2020 and an additional 30 million in the first 6 months of 2021. Thanks to the initiative, agency workers did not suffer any interruption of revenues, contrary to other categories of workers in Italy who had to wait for funding from the government.
Watch Assolavoro’s winning speech by Agostino Di Maio, Managing Director
This Award is sponsored by Coffreo, the leader in the digitalisation of the relationship with flex workers. Already a long-standing sponsor of World Employment Conferences, Coffreo further demonstrates its commitment to improving the experience of agency workers.
Hear from Emmanuel Caudry, CEO why it is important for his company to support social innovation
When a new management took the helm of Chile’s national federation in 2017, Agest had low visibility and was struggling financially. The new management established a clear roadmap to increase the level of activities and expand the membership. Over the course of 3 years, Agest increased its member base by 80%, stepping up from representing 88.000 workers in 2017 to representing 173.000 in 2020.
With a much stronger representativeness of the industry, Agest raised its profile towards government agencies, public sector entities and supranational organizations. This also enabled Agest to improve its data collection processes and to become a reliable source of market intelligence for the industry in Chile. The federation also demonstrated great agility during the Covid-19 crisis, adapting its ways of working with members to better serve them.
Watch Agest’s winning speech by Alfred Budschitz, General Manager
