Employment strategies discussion at EFC Symposium
View(s):The Employers’ Symposium 2025 organised by the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC), which is a much looked forward to event among the EFC’s member-companies and other business stakeholders, will take place on February 28 at the Monarch Imperial.
This year’s edition will unfold under the banner, ‘Traversing turbulence- Fueling enterprises for success’, the EFC said in a media release.
Talal Rafi, Director, Business Consulting, Ernst and Young Sri Lanka, who is a panellist for the session on ‘Economic Environment: Employment Strategies to Overcome Economic Challenges,’ will converse about economic crisis and revival strategies.
In the context of the challenges the local business community had to brave, there are several lessons to be learnt, points out Mr. Rafi. Fiscal discipline, digitisation and strengthening the supply chains are notable among them, he says. “Better financial management would be a lesson as many businesses during the economic crisis suffered due to high debt and bad liquidity management. Companies who had digitised showed much greater resilience as it led to greater efficiency. Businesses also learnt the lesson of diversifying and strengthening their supply chains.”
Commenting on how Sri Lanka can maintain a balance between the IMF conditions and social expectations at manageable levels, Mr. Rafi says that it is paramount to protect the economically vulnerable segments of the population. “As the IMF requires, Sri Lanka needs to spend minimum 0.6 per cent of GDP on social security. The IMF conditions include tough structural reforms, which if implemented, will result in economic growth. Equitable economic growth is the only permanent solution in addressing poverty. The benefits of the IMF programme also must be communicated well to the public.”
Bernhard Stefan, Managing Director, Nestle Lanka PLC who is also a panellist for the session on ‘Economic Environment: Employment Strategies to Overcome Economic Challenges,’ will discuss firm-specific strategies to survive the crisis. Mr. Stefan who took over Nestle Lanka at the height of Sri Lanka’s unprecedented economic crisis, said: “Sri Lanka is a resilient nation. Despite facing a severe economic crisis, Sri Lanka was able to gain economic stability relatively fast. Although the journey has been painful, with consumers and manufacturers forced to make hard choices to navigate this period, I am optimistic that the nation is well positioned for growth.”
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