Tackling informal employment in Asia: building post-COV19 solutions to precariousness through case-study based evidence on Bhutan, Laos, Maldives, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam

Project Information

LABOUR

Grant agreement ID: 101007766

DOI

10.3030/101007766

Project closed

EC signature date 9 November 2020

Start date 1 January 2022

End date 31 December 2025

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 1 545 600,00

EU contribution

€ 1 545 600,00

Coordinated by

TALLINN UNIVERSITY
Estonia

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - LABOUR (Tackling informal employment in Asia: building post-COV19 solutions to precariousness through case-study based evidence on Bhutan, Laos, Maldives, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

LABOUR is a research and training programme designed to address the above-mentioned shortfalls of research and development approaches with particular attention to a region where this is particularly worrying concern. We have gathered a team of 16 participants that includes academic and non-academic partners working on labour insecurity with the goal of offering

1) A comprehensive training component allowing participants to gain a specialisation in a new field, sector and discipline(s); this will be used as a base to
2) Explore the nexus between potentially inadequate or ineffective state responses to the rise of job insecurity from a two-fold perspective.

This will help addressing, both at the scientific and policy level, the challenges of precarious labour in the region, with particular attention to the post-pandemic crisis that hit Southeast Asia. According to the last WESO report, there are over 1.4bn workers in vulnerable jobs worldwide, with numbers sharply increased by the COVID-19 pandemic. Informal employment in Asia is estimated to account for 68.2% of the active population and several attempts have been made at both domestic and international levels to address these concerns. This includes efforts through the Sustainable Development Goals process, which includes a specific statistical indicator to measure informal employment (8.3.1) the formulation of SDG8 (decent work) and SDG9 (sustainable industrialization).

Across regions, the extent to which SDGs are used to address youth issues and inform national policies varies significantly. Although most states have formally committed to SDGs, including those on insecure employment, developing regions often lack the capacity to systematically study informal employment and vulnerability in ways that facilitate the development to implement concrete viable solutions. Two main challenges are evident: EU approaches have rarely been adapted to other regions, and no systematic review of anti-precariousness policies has been attempted beyond the EU.
LABOUR successfully trained specialists on the topic and region while also proposing mitigation measures for decision-makers and development organisations. LABOUR strengthened research capacity and interdisciplinary expertise on labour insecurity, fostering cooperation between academic and non-academic partners. Through integrated training, mobility, and knowledge exchange, participants developed methodological, disciplinary, and intersectoral skills, enhancing research and policy-engagement competences. LABOUR also developed transferable skills, supporting participants’ long-term careers and cross-sector engagement, and contributing to a new generation of specialists and sustainable international collaborations.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Despite pandemic delays, the work of the project LABOUR slowly started in January 2021 and continued throughout the year. Pandemic restrictions impacted the project's secondments, and thus research, was not evenly possible throughout the network. Besides, the recent military coup in Myanmar made it difficult, say impossible, to second staff to the country. As a remedy, we added another partner (KYSD Cambodia) that is equally competent and guaranteed completion of the planned secondments on time. The first phase of the project concentrated on secondment of fellows from Asian to EU countries. This came not only out of necessity, to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, but also well in consistency with the workflow. Indeed, these research stays allowed staff from non-academic partner to undergo academic training and therefore contribute more actively to the research and training components of the project.
The team also started its visibility activities with a panel at the IPSO Peace Conference in Kyoto, where members of several partners (GIVE, KYSD, PAKISAMA, TLU) contributed to the discussion.
From late 2021, the situation normalised and secondments proceeded in all directions exceeding the original goal of 56 researchers from Asia and Europe, conducting studies on precarious labour across diverse settings and contexts. The data collected produced several innovative deliverables, as listed in the communication and dissemination section. The project also delivered seminars and workshops, a wide range of academic and non-academic publications, conference panels, and multiple network events documented in the deliverables.
Mid-Term Review and collective network-based trainings were combined with a management, exploitation, and dissemination event, featuring research presentations and a panel on business in Asia.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Informal employment and general labour insecurity, are now widely recognized as major concerns worldwide. ILO estimates that approximately two billion people is active in the informal sector. At least 192 UN Member States have committed to SDG goals. Labour insecurity is, however, unevenly distributed. Evidence shows that it is higher among people active in the agrarian sector. It particularly affects the younger strata of the population and that men and women are affected by labour insecurity in very different ways (ILO, 2017, 2018). LABOUR is a research and training programme designed to address the above-mentioned shortfalls of research and development approaches with particular attention to a region where this is particularly worrying concern. Informal employment in Asia is estimated to account for 68.2% of the active population (ILO 2020), with warnings that the situation will rapidly deteriorate because of the COVID-19 crisis (ILO 2020b). LABOUR gathered a team of 18 participants that includes academic and non-academic partners working on labour insecurity, to engage in 1) A training component allowing participants to gain a specialisation in a new field, sector and discipline(s); 2) Explore the nexus between potentially inadequate or ineffective state responses to the rise of job insecurity from a two- fold perspective. This entailed engagement with three major objectives
a) Provide a training opportunity for the researchers involved - opportunities for secondments exceeded the original goal of 56 researchers. Involvement in local activities allowed all participants to develop an individually-tailored training path involving secondment, reintegration into the sending institution, participation in network events and carrying out of joint tasks with other researchers from the network. This has made possible a valuable knowledge transfer opportunity across regions, sectors (academic/non-academic) and fields of research.
b) Collect, interpret and process new empirical data. This has been done thanks to long research stays in the target region and integration into local teams that have generated both knowledge transfer and production of novel data. Detailed information on the scientific production is offered in the relative section
c) Offer policy recommendations to decision-makers and international stakeholders (international organizations, NGOs), while keeping the general public informed about our latest findings. By combining academic research with civil society experience, it grounded findings in local realities and bridged theory and policy. Mobility, training, sharing findings, and collaboration strengthened research capacity and knowledge transfer beyond the project’s lifetime. Overall, it reinforced knowledge and cooperation structures, supporting informed and sustainable responses to precarious employment in the region.

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