“The improvement of working conditions is a policy we are pursuing for our people’s sake. It’s aimed at raising the safety level, minimising industrial risks, and creating quality jobs, so feedback from trade unions and the business community is of special importance. The government’s job will be to introduce such a system of assessing and managing professional risks that measures up to the highest international standards, those of the International Labour Organisation and of major European nations. And, of course, it’s essential to ensure the efficient, targeted use of funds allocated for labour protection.”
“The efficient occupational safety and health system must be based on modern information technologies that can also be used for statistical monitoring and to report on the situation in general, to analyse the data by industry and to provide a basic forecast. Such mechanisms must be introduced widely as soon as possible. As far as the scientific standards of occupational safety are concerned, we must use the most advanced regulations and standards of the International Labour Organisation as a benchmark. Such regulations must be our basic criteria for creating quality and safe jobs.”
“We will modernise available industrial clusters and create new ones. At the same time, the creation of complete-cycle enterprises, the siting of high-tech enterprises in Russia, and the creation of modern jobs will become a key principle of our cooperation with foreign investors. We proceed from the premise that up to 25 million modern jobs must be created nationwide in the next few years. This is a substantial amount for Russia. Although this doesn’t mean that all jobs must be absolutely new, all available jobs must be upgraded to a considerable degree.”
“We will dramatically upgrade or create at least 25 million modern jobs in industry and the public sector. In effect, we will modernise every third job – this is our priority national goal for the next 20 years.”
“We should change the quality of jobs rather than merely reduce the unemployment rate to zero. We need different jobs, more skilled and high-paid jobs with better working conditions. We managed to partly do this even during the crisis, though this is not noticeable yet.”
“Our actions are in accord with the ILO’s Decent Work agenda. We share its main premises and concerns, and, indeed, we are ready to promote them globally, which brings me to a concrete proposal: to hold a high-level international conference in Russia next autumn devoted to the implementation of the principles laid out under the Decent Work concept.”
“In the 21st century, human labour can no longer be viewed as merely a cog in the chain of mechanical production or a depersonalised tool for achieving economic targets. We need to rethink the fundamental role and value of labour. I would go so far as to say that contemporary societies and economies would not be able to develop sustainably if human capital were not given precedence and if conditions were not created for each individual to fully realise their economic potential.”
“We should not just provide jobs but improve workers' professional skills and create conditions for people to acquire new, more needed, more prestigious, and better-paid jobs. Labour mobility must be encouraged.”
“It is important that the interested companies take an active part in various arrangements for professional training. They could sign contracts with educational institutions, offer internships, and offer decent wages to their trainees to encourage talented young people to join them.”
“We need to increase the number of knowledge-intensive and well-paid jobs that will require highly educated employees and consistent professional training. Naturally, we also need to foster greater labour efficiency both in public and private sectors. This is one of the most crucial goals for the future.”