Traversing Turbulence, Fueling Enterprises for success: Highlights from the Employers’ Symposium 2025
After a hiatus of over five years, the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) triumphantly hosted its Employers’ Symposium 2025 on 28th of February 2025 at the Monarch Imperial, Sri Jayawardhanapura Kotte, drawing a full house of top-tier business leaders, policymakers, and industry representatives.
Held under the timely and bold theme “Traversing Turbulence – Fueling Enterprises for Success”, the symposium reignited vital conversations around sustainable enterprise, digital transformation, and economic resilience amidst ongoing global and local disruptions.
In his opening remarks Dinesh Weerakkody, Chairman of the EFC highlighted the critical role of partnership among employers, policy makers, and industry leaders in steering Sri Lanka through this period of rapid change. He reaffirmed the Federation’s pledge to stand by local businesses during this journey, urging everyone to actively contribute their insights and remain open to fresh ideas.
Delivering the keynote, Ms. Deborah France-Massin, Director of the ILO Bureau for Employers’ Activities, underscored EFC’s remarkable legacy having reaching to its centenary as one of the most influential employer organizations in Asia and beyond.
Ms. France-Massin also emphasized the critical global trends reshaping the world of work—from climate change and demographic shifts to digitalization and the platform economy. She urged stakeholders to rethink workforce strategies, especially in response to Gen Z’s evolving expectations, and to adopt inclusive approaches that embrace technological innovation, social protection, and green skills development.
“The world of work is accelerating. Sri Lanka must move fast but together,” she concluded.
The Symposium’s three sessions unpacked the most pressing business themes of our time:
- Responding to the Ecological, Demographic and the Regulatory Environment through Responsible and Sustainable Business Initiatives.
- Responding to the Technological Environment: Fostering a Technologically Savvy workforce.
- Economic Environment: Employment Strategies to Overcome Economic Challenges.
Marking a step toward greater connectivity and member engagement, the Symposium also witnessed the official launch of the EFC mobile app, an all-in-one platform to access EFC’s latest updates, services, and resources on the go.
