By Benjamin Mwibo
The Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE) has requested stake holders and government institutions to implement equity between use of technology in service delivery and human force.
The call has been made through FUE stake holders like International Labor Organisation in Uganda (ILO ), Enable and others on Friday in Kampala while launching a survey for the Employer of the Year Awards 2023 purposed at recognition of the outstanding employers.
Lucie Carlier, Project Manager, Decent Work and Social Protection with Enable, indicated that the Employee of the Year awards signifies a commitment to recognizing and celebrating excellence in human resources, financial aid organizations.
This recognition is not merely an accolade, but a testament to the dedication and innovation demonstrated by employers, more specifically to those employers who prioritize a decent work and social potential hence the dynamics of religion that the project is supporting, Enable firmly believes that promoting Decent Work and Social Protection is pivotal, she added.
Lucie also said that fostering sustainable economic growth, with reducing poverty and ensuring the well being of individuals and communities, the workplace is not just a space for employment but rather a place where individuals spend a significant portion of their lives. Therefore, it is imperative that this space to select a race on fairness, inclusivity and the protections of workers rights.
The decision to create a special particularly targeting employers in the agricultural sector and in hospitality sectors, in the laboratory region is particularly commendable therefore these sectors are not only vital for economic developments, but also for job creation. Making them keeping leaders in the pursuit of discipline and social protection goals, she noted.
According to Lucie, “As the government sponsors, Enable is committed to supporting initiatives that aligns with it’s mission of promoting sustainable development, and the Employer of the Year awards is a perfect embodiment of that commitment as it identifies an opportunity to encourage organizations to continuously improve their HR policies and practices and to set new standards for the betterment of the workplace.”
Stephen Opio Chief Technical Advisor (ILO) explained how gladly they associate themselves with employers and have committed to support employers through the FUE, now for two decades since.
According to Opio, ” We do appreciate that technology is causing disruption in the world of work but believe that artificial intelligence should be viewed in the line where technology is not replacing the humans, humans will always be in the world of work, govt and employers should embrace their staff to advance the skills of technology in the world of work too.”
The new technology should be seen as an opportunity, however, it’s upon the government and employers to balance the two. Last year, FUE also witnessed that majority of young people in Uganda are unemployed and because of this, many are not in education or in training, therefore it’s about 41% as figures indicate, Opio said.
He included that the FUE, also introduced another category of people, being the refugees due to Uganda’s positive policy response on hosting displaced persons. The Federation introduced a category of employers who employ refugees as a best practice guided by the employer by the Refugee Act of 2016.
The process is ongoing and has been happening for the last 13 years, every year th program is run and identifies who the best employers across the country are. It stretches towards all the regions of the country and has very good success, Brenda Kyasimire Jabel the technical chairperson of the technical committee, Employer of the Year awards, mentioned.