Business

Why Promoting Decent Work Matters More Than Just Any Job for Sri Lankan Women

Published

3 years ago

2023/03/17

Thilina Walpola

Figure 1: Share of Employed Women in Different Types of Employment

By Dr Nisha Arunatilake

Sri Lanka’s low female labour force participation rate (FLFP) has received intense policy attention over the past several decades for many reasons. It is widely assumed that improving FLFP will not only empower women and reduce gender disparities but will also promote productivity and economic growth. Over the years, a popular strategy for promoting FLFP by successive governments has been to encourage self-employment opportunities or entrepreneurship. However, FLFP has remained below 35% for years. Self-employment jobs are highly vulnerable to economic fluctuations as social safety nets do not cover them. Furthermore, on average, self-employment income is lower than other types of income. This blog argues that to empower women and drive economic growth, policy should focus on facilitating women’s access to decent work over access to any job.

Measuring Decent Work

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), decent work refers to jobs that provide workers with dignity, equality, fair wages and safe working conditions. Further, those in decent work have a say in their work and are protected from discrimination. The main components of decent work are workplace rights, employment, social protection and social dialogue. However, the lack of standard indicators to measure decent work and the difficulty in capturing all aspects of decent work, make it challenging to determine the availability of decent work. For example, an aspect such as social dialogue is not easy to capture.

Despite the difficulty in measuring, it is important to understand whether the jobs performed by women in the market are decent jobs. The Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) reported that in 2021, 32% of women aged 15 and above (or working-age women) were in the labour force. Of these, only 29% were employed, while the rest were unemployed.

Since there is no standard measure for decent work, several indicators with varying degrees of decent work components were used to analyse the share of working-age women engaged in various aspects of decent work. These include non-vulnerable work, full-time employment, formal employment, fair wages, and fair wages for decent working hours.

Non-vulnerable work is a relatively better type of work compared to vulnerable work. The latter is categorised as any job that contributes to family work or own account work. These types of employment are considered vulnerable because the workers depend on the revenue generated by their enterprises and are not covered by social security.

Full-time employment is defined as working for more than 35 hours a week. However, the concept of part-time work is not defined in Sri Lanka. As such, many workers in part-time employment do not receive the same benefits as those in full-time employment.

Formal employment refers to paid workers in the formal sector (government/semi-government sector; private sector firms with more than ten workers; or smaller private sector firms), excluding employees without a permanent employer or employees whose employers are not contributing to their pension or provident fund.

Fair wages are defined as the minimum wage with legislated allowances. In 2018, this amounted to LKR 13,500 a month. According to the decent work concept, a fair wage should be earned during regular work hours, which are 45 hours per week in Sri Lanka.

Figure 2: Women’s Access to Decent Work by Age, Sector and Level of Education

Disparities in Women’s Access to Decent Work

Figure 1 summarises the statistics on women employed in various aspects of decent work. The share of women engaged in decent work is significantly lower than the share of total employed, and the prevalence levels decrease as more aspects of decent work are included in the measure. Specifically, only 38% of females in formal employment were covered by some form of social security. The share of employed females covered by social security and receiving a fair wage was slightly lower at 33%. However, nearly half of the formal full-time female employees receiving a fair wage need to work more than the legislated 45 hours to earn the fair wage. Such excessive work hours are a barrier to accessing decent work for females, given their care responsibilities at home.

Another issue concerning access to decent work in Sri Lanka is the inequality in access. As illustrated in Figure 2, access to decent work varies widely across age groups, residence sectors and education levels. A recent study by IPS has identified several reasons, including access to quality education, access to physical infrastructure such as secure transportation and electricity, labour market conditions in the area of residence, social norms, outdated legislation and poor implementation of legislation. These inequalities in access to decent work must be eliminated to improve overall access to decent work.

As shown in Figure 2, low-skilled females (those with an education level below General Certificate in Education – Ordinary Level [OL]) have the least access to decent work. However, access to decent work increases with higher levels of education. Furthermore, access to decent work is also low for those outside the urban sector. Lastly, access to decent work is lower for females of age 30 years or more compared to females in the age group of 25 to 29. This disparity could be due to older females choosing to work fewer hours due to their other responsibilities.

Way Forward

In Sri Lanka, less than 17% of female workers are in decent work. Access to decent work varies widely across women of different ages, from different localities, and with different skill levels. If the government intends to reduce inequality and promote growth by improving women’s access to jobs, it should prioritise promoting access to decent work. Facilitating access to other types of work is unlikely to push women out of poverty and provide them with better social security and a fair income.

According to the IPS’ State of the Economy 2022 report, improving women’s access to decent work should prioritise job creation in productive sectors. This can be achieved by investing in expanding productive sectors and innovating to improve productivity and job creation. Further, attention should be given to policies that reduce barriers to accessing decent work.

Acknowledgements: The above blog benefits from research on “Addressing context-specific barriers to female labour force participation in decent work in Sri Lanka”, a project funded by Co-Impact and coordinated by PEP.

Link to original blog: https://www.ips.lk/talkingeconomics/2023/03/14/why-promoting-decent-work-matters-more-than-just-any-job-for-sri-lankan-women/

Dr Nisha Arunatilake is the Director of Research at IPS. She heads the Labour, Employment and Human Resource Development unit at the IPS. Her research interests include labour market analysis, education and skills’ development, migration and development, and health economics. She holds a BSc in Computer Science and Mathematics summa cum laude from the University of the South, USA and an MA and PhD in Economics from Duke University, USA.

(nisha@ips.lk)

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Business

AIA delivers strong first half results in 2026; double-digit growth across key financial metrics

Published

21 hours ago

2026/09/5

Thilina Walpola

The Board of AIA Group Limited (the “Company”) is pleased to announce the Group’s financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2026. Growth rates are shown on a constant exchange rate basis unless otherwise stated:

New business performance and embedded value

Value of new business (VONB) of US$3,212 million, up 10 per cent overall and 14 per cent excluding Thailand(1)

Record high annualised operating ROEV of 18.0 per cent, up from 15.8 per cent in full year 2025

EV Equity of US$83.4 billion, up 6 per cent per share over the first half on an actual exchange rate basis

IFRS earnings

Operating profit after tax (OPAT) of US$4,163 million, up 13 per cent per share

AIA now expects to exceed OPAT per share CAGR target of 9 to 11 per cent from 2023 to 2026(2)

Record high annualised operating ROE of 17.5 per cent, up from 15.5 per cent in full year 2025

Cash generation and capital returns

Underlying free surplus generation (UFSG) of US$3,935 million, increased by 10 per cent per share

Net free surplus generation (net FSG) of US$2,758 million, up 12 per cent per share

US$3.6 billion returned to shareholders in the first half through dividend and share buy-back

Interim dividend increased by 10 per cent to 53.90 Hong Kong cents per share

Lee Yuan Siong, AIA’s Group Chief Executive and President, said:

“AIA has delivered another strong performance in the first half of 2026, with double-digit growth across our key financial metrics, while continuing to return substantial capital to shareholders. VONB reached a record high of US$3.2 billion with growth across all distribution channels, and all reportable segments excluding Thailand. The Group has achieved 17 per cent CAGR since the first half of 2023(3), demonstrating consistently strong demand for AIA’s professional advice and differentiated products.

“At the core of our unrivalled distribution platform is our market-leading Premier Agency. I am delighted that AIA has once again been ranked the number one Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) multinational company globally. We have held this position for a record 12 consecutive years and we have more than double the number of MDRT members of our nearest competitor. In the first half of 2026, our Premier Agency achieved strong VONB growth of 11 per cent excluding Thailand(1). Our extensive network of strategic distribution partners further expands our market reach and generated an 18 per cent increase in VONB, supported by very strong performance in both the bancassurance and independent financial adviser (IFA) and broker channels.

“Strong new business, together with disciplined management of our in-force portfolio, has supported sustained growth in recurring earnings with OPAT per share up by 13 per cent in the first half. As a result, we expect to exceed our 9 to 11 per cent OPAT per share CAGR target for 2023 to 2026(2). UFSG, the Group’s core measure of operating cash generation, increased by 10 per cent per share. After allowing for new business investment, net FSG increased by 12 per cent per share. In accordance with our prudent, sustainable and progressive dividend policy, the Board has declared a 10 per cent increase in the interim dividend to 53.90 Hong Kong cents per share. These achievements demonstrate that our financial strategy is working as intended.

“Asia remains the most compelling growth opportunity for life and health insurance. Powerful structural tailwinds across the region continue to create substantial demand for our professional advice and differentiated products and underpin the exceptional long-term prospects for AIA’s business. I am confident that AIA’s disciplined execution of our strategic priorities will continue to deliver long-term sustainable value for all our stakeholders.”

Business

British Council Sri Lanka launches soft skills workshops to elevate learning and empower communication

Published

22 hours ago

2026/09/5

Thilina Walpola

The British Council team answering questions on Corporate English Solutions from leading corporates about professional development skills courses

The British Council Sri Lanka has launched Corporate English Solutions (CES), tailored to the Sri Lankan corporate and education ecosystem, aimed at helping organisations strengthen workplace communication and professional development.

The launch event took place recently at the NH Collection, Colombo 3, gathering corporate partners, clients and education stakeholders throughout the country.

CES extends the British Council’s long-standing work in English language education and teacher training into a dedicated offering for the corporate sector. The launch introduced two new components to the British Council’s presence in Sri Lanka such as public workshops and teacher training programmes, open to learners and educators beyond the organisation’s existing corporate and academic partners. Guests at the event were shown a short video introducing Corporate English Solutions before the formal proceedings began.

Talal Meer, British Council Regional Business Development Director, South Asia, welcomed guests and introduced the British Council’s team in Sri Lanka. In his remarks, Meer set out the scope of the CES launch, covering the introduction of public workshops in Sri Lanka, the rollout of teacher training programmes, and an overview of the CES product portfolio. Meer’s role covers educational partnerships in the South Asia region, and his address framed the Sri Lanka launch within the British Council’s broader regional strategy.

Business

Ogilvy Group tops award tally at ‘Dragons of Sri Lanka’ 2026

Published

22 hours ago

2026/09/5

Thilina Walpola

Ogilvy Group Sri Lanka delivered a standout performance at the recently concluded Dragons of Sri Lanka 2026 Awards, securing a total of nine awards comprising two Gold Dragons, one Silver Dragon and six Black Dragons, among the festival’s highest overall award tallies. Gold Dragon wins for Phoenix Ogilvy and Ogilvy Digital, together with the seven additional recognitions across multiple categories, highlighted Ogilvy’s ability to combine creativity, strategic thinking and commercial effectiveness to deliver business results.

Organised by the 4As Sri Lanka, the third edition of Dragons of Sri Lanka shortlisted more than 50 agencies and corporates, making it one of the country’s most competitive marketing communications awards. These local awards, along with the chapters in Malaysia and Pakistan are part of the Dragons of Asia platform, one of the region’s leading programmes for marketing communications effectiveness, with entries being judged on strategy, originality, execution and measurable results.

Ogilvy Digital accounted for eight awards in total, including a Gold Dragon in the Business & Trade Marketing category, and a Silver Dragon in the Innovative Idea or Concept category. The Agency additionally received six Black Dragons across the categories of Innovative Idea or Concept, Business & Trade Marketing, Content Creation, Small Budget, Event or Experiential, and Brand Trial or Sales Generation.

Commenting on the achievement, Sajith Weerasinghe, Chief Operating Officer of Ogilvy Digital, said, “These recognitions reflect the breadth of capabilities we’ve built across strategy, creative, content, experience design, technology and performance marketing. The fact that the work was recognised across so many different disciplines demonstrates our ability to apply creativity to a wide range of business challenges and objectives. We’re proud that this achievement spans multiple clients, categories and types of work, reflecting both the versatility of our people and our commitment to delivering results.”