Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - Egypt (Ratification: 1954)

Article 1 of the Convention. Contribution of the employment service to employment promotion. The Government reports that it has made continuous efforts to regulate the employment market, protect workers and improve their skills in all economic sectors. It adds that these efforts contributed to reducing the overall unemployment rate to 7.3 per cent in the first half of 2021, as well as to opening new and advanced labour markets that promote the provision of many and varied job opportunities through the employment services that seek to develop the use of productive resources. The Committee notes the different activities carried out by the employment service, including: holding countrywide job fairs sponsored by the Ministry of Manpower to provide guidance for young people seeking work; attending conferences and workshops on topics related to unemployment and implementing training courses for young women and men in skills relevant to occupations that are in demand on the job market, to facilitate the access of young persons to enhanced job opportunities. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that in 2020 there were 300 employment offices across the country. Moreover, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), in 2020 261,231 persons were placed in employment through the employment service. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated, detailed information on the nature, scope and impact of activities carried out by the employment service, including statistical data disaggregated by age and sex. It also requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to respond to the needs of specific groups who face particular barriers to entering or remaining in the labour market, including women, young persons, persons with disabilities, refugees and other groups in vulnerable situations. The Government is also requested to continue to provide information on the number and location of public employment offices established, the number of employment applications received, the number of vacancies notified, and the number of persons placed in employment by these offices. Moreover, the Committee notes that private employment agencies can also, in collaboration with the public employment service, play a critical role in improving labour market efficiency. Recalling the campaign launched by the Office in May 2022 to promote the ratification of both the Public Employment Services Convention, 1948 (No. 88), and thePrivate Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), the Committee invites the Government to consider ratifying Convention No. 181, as the most up-to-date instrument in the area of private employment services, which in turn complements the effective implementation of Convention No. 88.