Employmentweb_low

EmploymEnT, woRk, and hEalTh inEqualiTiEs - a global perspective
1,719.8 in 2007 (WB, 2009). In the last three decades, economic
policies have been geared towards creating a liberalised open
economy. poverty rates are falling and less than 20% are below the
official poverty line. The country, however, is beset by a balance of
payment deficit, a budget deficit and inflation. over the years, the
economy has gradually transformed from an agricultural base to
one dominated by the service sector. In 2006, the service sector
contributed to 59.4 per cent of gDp, industries to 28.4 per cent, and
agriculture to 12.3 per cent (Department of Census and statistics,
2006). Contribution to economic growth is also dominated by the
service sector (i.e. 70%).
sri lanka' total labour force in the first quarter of 2008 was
estimated to be around 7.5 million (excluding the north and east of
the country). The rates of unemployment have declined from 10.5
per cent in 1995 to 6.0 per cent in 2007, but with significant gender
differences (4.3% for males and 9% for females). of the 7.15 million
employed, 41.8 per cent are in the service sector, 31.8 per cent in the
agricultural sector, and 26.4 per cent in industry. (Department of
Census and statistics, 2008). The informal sector accounts for 59.6
per cent of employment.
The agricultural sector is the worst off. It accounts for 31.8 per
cent of all employed people, where 82.2 per cent are in the
informal sector as of 2008. The eighteen per cent of formally
employed agricultural workers are mainly from the organised
plantation sectors. These continue to be tea and rubber
plantations, with the labour force having a preponderance of
“Indian Tamils”. The government continues to play a dominant role
in providing employment and has 813,000 employees (about 13% of
the employed share), through state, provincial and semigovernment
sector employment (Department of Census and
statistics, 2006). The armed forces attracts youth, especially from
rural areas.
The country lacks a comprehensive social security scheme. The
most secure are the public servants, as they are eligible for either a
pension or the public service provident fund. The Employee's
provident fund is available for the private sector, but only 67-69 per
cent are covered (Institute of policy studies of sri lanka and Ilo).
The least covered are workers in the informal sector and the selfemployed,
e.g. the farmer's pension scheme and fisherman's
pensions scheme covers only about 50-60 per cent.
sri lanka's relative success in providing healthier and secure
employment relations (while belonging to the “peripheral cluster”)
can be traced to several factors such as a strong trade union
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