Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88) - Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (Ratification: 1964)

The Committee notes the observations of the Confederation of Workers of Venezuela (CTV), the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations of Venezuela (FAPUV), the Independent Trade Union Alliance Confederation of Workers (CTASI) as well as the observations of the Federation of Chambers and Associations of Commerce and Production of Venezuela (FEDECAMARAS), communicated by the Government with its report.

Articles 1, 2, 3 and 6 of the Convention. Contribution of the employment service to the promotion of employment. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that between 2018 and 2022, the Ministry of People’s Power for the Social Process of Labour (MPPPST), directed its attention to the stabilization, protection and consolidation of the social process of labour, taking a holistic approach. The Government indicates generally that, within that context, the MPPPST formulated new strategies aimed at boosting the main sectors of the economy and the productive development of the country, and introduced innovations in working methods to promote the consolidation of the institutional management of all its operative units. The Government indicates the signing, on 17 December 2020, of an interinstitutional cooperation agreement between the MPPPST and the Ministry of People’s Power for University Education (MPPEU) on collective, integrated, continuous and lifelong training. The MPPEU also signed an agreement with various universities to develop possible training arrangements. The Committee further notes the information provided by the Government regarding the number of workers registered in the Meeting Centres for Education and Work (CEET) for guidance, inclusion, training and self-training purposes. The Committee observes that between 2019 and 2021, the number of women and men workers registered in the CEETs fell drastically from 13,036 workers (only 446 obtained employment) to 3,994 (only 68 persons belonging to groups with employment integration difficulties obtained employment). The Government indicates that between 2018 and the first semester of 2022, through the Social Welfare Divisions (DPS), 34,792 persons with disabilities received care and guidance from the Comprehensive Care System for Vocational Habilitation and Rehabilitation (SAIHRO), and 20,349 persons received care and guidance with regard to social welfare for non-dependent workers (SIOTRAINS), involuntary loss of employment (SAIPIE) and labour migration (SIOMIL). Lastly, the Government reports on the implementation of the Special Training and Education Programme of the National Institute for Socialist Education and Training (INCES). The objective of the Special Programme is to coordinate, guide and evaluate action implemented under the Collective, Integrated, Continuous and Lifelong Training and Self-training Programme regarding what is required to promote participation by persons with disabilities in the world of work. The Committee observes, however, that the information provided by the Government does not make clear the numbers of job applications received, of vacancy notifications, and of job placements made by the CEETs and the DPS, or the number of persons who subsequently entered employment.

The Committee notes that, in their observations, the CTV, the FAPUV and the CTASI denounce the absence of an authority within the MPPPST responsible for the establishment of a service for job vacancies and applications, and for a national system of employment offices, as required by the Convention. They also maintain that the data provided by the Government in its report do not correspond to reality, come from unknown sources and do not make it clear which workers, who benefitted from the measures indicated, entered the labour market. The CTV, the FAPUV and the CTASI state that there is no free access to updated information on world of work indicators, as the National Institute of Statistics (INE) does not have updated figures, the most recent being from 2018. Finally, the CTV, the FAPUV and the CTASI affirm that, according to the National Survey on Living Conditions (ENCOVI), conducted by the Andrés Bello Catholic University, between 2014 and 2021 formal employment fell by 4.4 million jobs, 70 per cent of which were in the public sector. They add that in 2021, only 32.9 per cent of women were economically active, compared to 67.1 per cent of men. With regard to the training provided by the CEETs, the CTV, the FAPUV and the CTASI maintain that it is based on party political lines, with the result that the training measures implemented are ideologically weighted. For its part, FEDECAMARAS indicates that the CEETs should enhance the training dispensed, focusing on research, technology and innovation so as to adapt to changes in today’s market, and the absolutes imposed by technical innovation and the digital economy. In this regard, FEDECAMARAS underscores the importance of a collaborative, tripartite approach in promoting coordinated action by the training centres in those areas, to relaunch productivity and employment. FEDECAMARAS also emphasizes the need to seek funding mechanisms and international cooperation to provide equipment to enable workers to access tools, equipment and last generation technological platforms.

In the light of the above, the Committee recalls that a fundamental obligation under the Convention is to maintain or ensure the maintenance of a free public employment service, to ensure the best possible organization of the employment market. This service shall consist of a national system of employment offices under the direction of a national authority, and shall comprise a network of local and, where appropriate, regional offices, sufficient in number to serve each geographical area of the country and conveniently located for employers and workers (Articles 1, 2 and 3(1), of the Convention). The Committee emphasizes that, to be considered as a public employment service in conformity with the requirements of the Convention, the national system of employment offices should be configured principally to implement the general policy in regard to referral of workers to available employment, and be able to provide statistical information to enable clear identification of job applications and vacancies, and also of successful job placements – information that was not included in the Government’s report. The Committee, therefore, considers that although the training activities described in the Government’s report constitute part of the competences of a public employment service, no information has been provided on other essential functions of such a national employment service, under the direction of a national authority, which generally include labour mediation, job placement and dissemination of information on the labour market. In this regard, the Committee emphasizes that the creation and maintenance of a network of free public employment services is essential to achieving full employment, and critical to ensuring access to the labour market, promoting skills development, providing valuable information and guidance to workers seeking employment or new occupational options, or who wish to start their own enterprises, assisting employers seeking to engage persons with the necessary skills, providing the required social welfare benefits and, ultimately, providing economic stability. Public employment services also play a key role in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of employment policies; without a network of this type, directed by the State, it would be difficult to attain the objectives of such policies, and the economy would suffer from higher levels of unemployment. In this connection, and considering the above-mentioned observations, the Committee urges the Government to provide detailed information on the manner in which national law and practice guarantee that a public employment service, consisting of a national system of employment offices under the direction of a national authority, ensures effective recruitment and placement services, as established by Article 6 of the Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to provide statistical information, disaggregated by sex and age, making it possible to identify the number of job applications received, notifications of vacancies and job placements completed by the Meeting Centres for Education and Work (CEET) and the Social Welfare Divisions (DPS). Lastly, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the measures adopted, in cooperation with the social partners, to take account of developing economic prospects, in order to align the training and education programmes of the CEETs more closely to future labour market needs.

Articles 4 and 5. Cooperation with the social partners. The Committee recalls that for 15 years it has been requesting the Government to provide information on the manner in which it ensures cooperation with the social partners in the organization and functioning of the public employment service. The Committee also recalls that, in its previous comments, it requested the Government to respond to the observations of FEDECAMARAS and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), in which they indicated that the Government was failing to comply with Article 5 of the Convention, and that FEDECAMARAS had not been consulted with regard to the formulation and implementation of the general employment service policy. The Committee observes that the Government includes no information in its report in this regard.

The Committee notes that FEDECAMARAS, in its observations, proposes the creation of advisory committees with a view to establishing closer cooperation with the social partners in the organization and functioning of the employment service, as required under Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee also notes that the CTV, the FAPUV and the CTASI indicate that they were not consulted on the formulation of a general employment service policy. In this regard, the Committee is obliged once more to recall that Article 5 of the Convention provides that the general policy of the employment service shall be developed after consultation of representatives of employers and workers, through advisory committees. The Committee therefore urges the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken to establish such advisory committees at national and regional level. It also urges the Government to provide specific examples of the prior consultations held with employers’ and workers’ organizations to ensure their cooperation in the organization and functioning of the public employment service.

Article 8. Special arrangements for juveniles. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the CEETs provide assistance and necessary guidance to the Major Youth Employment Mission (Gran Misión Chamba Juvenil) to promote the inclusion of young persons in the social process of labour, and ensure continuity in their collective, integrated, continuous and lifelong training and self-training. The Government adds that, in 2022, through INCES, 81,227 young persons undertook productive training (technical training applied to the production of local foodstuffs in rural municipalities), 32,849 took part in the National Apprenticeship Programme (PNA) (a training programme aimed at young, first-time jobseekers), 14,078 in the productive baccalaureate (aimed at preparing young persons to continue higher studies in their area of interest and according to their occupational profile), and 1,172 participated in the “Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi” programme (a training programme aimed at persons deprived of their liberty).

The Committee also notes that, for their part, the CTV, the FAPUV and the CTASI deny knowledge of the activities implemented to promote youth employment in the context of the Major Youth Employment Mission, and of their impact, and therefore cannot evaluate them. They state that the young persons participating in the Major Mission are not paid a wage, but receive a monthly stipend fixed by the Government and are without social security benefits. With regard to the activities undertaken by INCES, the workers’ organizations maintain that the institution has for years not fulfilled the function for which it was originally established, and that the premises in which it delivered its training courses have been abandoned. The Committee also notes that FEDECAMARAS underlines the importance of developing joint programmes to promote the integration of young persons in the productive process and their formation in entrepreneurship jointly with the social partners. Finally, the Committee refers to its 2022 observation regarding the implementation of the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), in which it notes the precarious situation of young persons in the labour market, which has led to their exodus in search of employment. The Committee therefore urges the Government to provide updated information, including statistical information disaggregated by sex, on the nature and impact of the support services and activities to promote employment, furnished by the employment services, with a view to ensuring the access of young persons to decent work and sustainable employment. In this regard, with reference to its observation of 2022 on Convention No. 122, the Committee firmly hopes that the Government will present in its next report an evaluation, formulated with the participation of the social partners, of the impact of the active employment policy measures taken to reduce youth unemployment and promote the sustainable insertion of young persons in the labour market, in particular for the most vulnerable categories of young persons. The Committee also draws the attention of the Government to the guidance provided by the Quality Apprenticeships Recommendation, 2023 (No. 208), and asks the Government to provide information on the measures taken to integrate and promote quality apprenticeships through the services provided by the public employment services.