Overview

Ethical recruitment cannot be achieved by any single actor. While governments strengthen regulation, businesses strengthen human rights due diligence, recruiters improve practices, and civil society advocates for workers, progress often stalls because these efforts remain fragmented. This interactive panel explores how shared responsibility across recruitment ecosystems can transform commitments into practical action.

Using real-world scenarios from Bangladesh and global supply chains, speakers representing business, recruitment agencies, workers, international organizations, and civil society will examine where responsibility begins, where it overlaps, and how collaboration can reduce worker-paid recruitment fees, improve transparency, and strengthen accountability. Rather than focusing solely on compliance, participants will collectively explore practical, scalable solutions that align commercial realities with human rights expectations. Through short interventions, audience engagement, and scenario-based discussion, the session will generate actionable insights that participants can adapt across diverse migration corridors and recruitment contexts.

Why it matters

Millions of migrant workers continue to face recruitment-related risks despite growing commitments to responsible business conduct. Effective solutions require coordinated action across governments, employers, recruiters, workers and civil society. This session demonstrates that ethical recruitment is not simply a compliance obligation but a shared responsibility requiring trust, collaboration and practical partnerships across the entire recruitment ecosystem. 

Key questions

• Where does responsibility for ethical recruitment begin—and how should it be shared across employers, recruiters, governments, financial institutions, civil society, and workers themselves?

• How can businesses identify and address recruitment risks that occur before workers enter formal supply chains, including in informal recruitment networks?

• What practical mechanisms, incentives, and partnerships can make ethical recruitment commercially viable and scalable, rather than relying solely on compliance?

• How can different stakeholders collaborate to build recruitment systems that are transparent, accountable, and accessible for migrant workers while remaining practical for business?

Who should attend?

Business and human rights practitioners; employers and global brands; recruitment agencies; government officials; labour ministries; international organizations; worker representatives; trade unions; civil society organizations; investors; researchers; and anyone working to strengthen responsible recruitment and human rights due diligence within global supply chains.

What participants will gain

• Understand how responsibility for ethical recruitment is shared across governments, businesses, recruiters, workers and civil society.

• Learn practical approaches for improving collaboration and accountability throughout complex recruitment supply chains.

• Explore real-world scenarios illustrating common challenges and opportunities in ethical recruitment.

• Leave with actionable ideas that organizations can adapt to strengthen responsible recruitment within their own operations and partnerships.

Additional resources

https://bonanza-group.net/bonanzaoverseas.com/ethical_recruitment.php#video

https://www.bsr.org/en/