EFC’s Employers’ Symposium to deliberate on critical business needs of the hour

EFC Director General Vajira Ellepola 

The Employers’ Symposium 2025 organised by the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) will take place on 28 February at Monarch Imperial. 

The annual symposium of the EFC which is a much looked forward to event among EFC’s member-companies and many other business stakeholders, is returning after a respite of more than five years owing to the COVID pandemic and the socio-economic unrest which prevailed in the country. 

The annual Employers’ Symposium of the EFC which has previously deliberated on relevant, important thematic areas focusing on different subjects concerning business, is returning this year under the banner – “Traversing turbulence- Fueling enterprises for success”. This year’s edition will be timely where the symposium’s discussions and knowledge-sharing will benefit businesses in navigating challenges brought to the forefront through turbulent times experienced by the country during the last five years and become resilient players in local and international markets making a positive contribution to the national economy in the years to come. 

EFC Director General Vajira Ellepola said: “During the last five years, the country has gone through much, including the pandemic, and the economic and political crises. As a result, ways of doing business, managing resources, priority concerns, budgeting, etc. have gone through major transformation giving rise to a “new-normal”. Remote work, digital infrastructure, cross-border contracts/transactions, etc. have gained momentum in an unprecedented manner when compared to the past. Therefore, navigating the challenges associated with this “new-normal” business landscape has become a constant point of dialogue within the private sector and among all stakeholders.”

He said that the thematic discussions lined up in the agenda will be of use to the policy makers to take stock of the ground level challenges faced by businesses and investors and address concerns that need intervention at the national level to make Sri Lanka an attractive business hub for the rest of the world. 

The upcoming symposium will bring together some of the well-known business leaders as panellists who will deliberate on themes such as “responding to the ecological, demographic and the regulatory environments”, “sustainable business invitiatives” and “fostering a technological savvy workforce”. The thematic areas dealt with at the symposium are very relevant to the businesses operating in the country, irrespective of their size or scale. “Anyone who participates will gain knowledge on the future employment landscape; what’s to be done to stay sustainable in the rapidly evolving operating environment, establish governance systems that are consistent with the legal and regulatory framework while also becoming privy to the best practices adopted by fellow businesses to address specific concerns on how to stay strong and achieve success despite challenges in the business environment,” observes EFC DG.

The learnings/outcomes from the symposium are envisaged to lend voice to socio-economic challenges the country is still grappling with and they will also be part of EFC’s lobbying and advocacy initiatives in relation to the relevant subject matters. “This is essentially a forum facilitated by the EFC for the businesses, whether they are in the membership or not, to raise their concerns and issues relating to employment, industrial relations and human resource management,” points out Ellepola who goes onto note that his organisation looks forward to the active participation of all stakeholders at the event, so that the deliberation will be fruitful to the parties and also compelling to seize the attention of policy makers. 

“We believe that discussion points would drive new thinking and give direction and confidence to traverse turbulence and create hope for the future,” maintains EFC DG. He also maintains that the symposium will offer an opportunity for participants to gain from the experts under different thematic areas. Ellepola also encourages other stakeholders outside the business community to participate as well and add to the discussion to make it wholistic and all inclusive.