Jobs are growing rapidly, and nearly half of the world
06 May 2020
Recent data from the International Labor Organization (ILO) on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labor market show that the virus could be catastrophic for those working in the informal economy and hundreds of millions of businesses around the world.
Global operating hours continue to
decline sharply due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This indicates that 1.6 billion
workers in the informal economy, or half of the world's workforce, could lose
their livelihoods in the near future.
According to the third issue of the ILO
Monitor: COVID-19 and the business world, the reduction in working hours in the
second quarter of 2020 will be much higher than forecast. That is an increase
of 10.5 percent compared to the fourth quarter of last year, which means 305 million
full-time employees. However, previously the decline in this indicator was
projected at 6.7 percent. The change in the forecast is related to the
extension and expansion of isolation measures. Analyzing the situation in the
regions, in the second quarter, working hours in the Americas are expected to
decrease by 12.4 percent, and in Europe and Central Asia by 11.8 percent.
Forecasts for other regional groups are close to these figures, in all cases
more than 9.5 percent.
In the first month of the crisis, the
incomes of those working in the informal economy fell by 60 percent. At the
same time, the decline was 81 percent in Africa and the Americas, 21.6 percent
in the Asia-Pacific region, and 70 percent in Europe and Central Asia. In the
absence of alternative sources of income, these workers and their families will
have no means of subsistence.
Over the past two weeks, the number of
workers living in countries with job creation recommendations or requirements
has dropped from 81 percent to 68 percent. Jobs continue to decline in other
countries. Serious failures around the world pose a real threat to more than
436 million businesses operating in the most affected sectors of the economy.
There are about 232 million in wholesale and retail trade, 111 million in the
processing industry, 51 million in the hotel business and catering, and 42
million in real estate and other commercial activities.
The ILO calls for urgent, targeted and
flexible action to support workers and businesses, especially small businesses,
the informal economy and other vulnerable groups. For millions of workers, a
lack of income means food, security and a lack of future. With the growing
pandemic and employment crisis, there is an urgent need to protect those most
vulnerable.
Measures to revive the economy should be based
primarily on job creation, an active employment policy and the strengthening of
labor market institutions, a comprehensive and well-resourced social protection
system. The most important condition for ensuring an effective and long-term
recovery is the international coordination of measures aimed at stimulating the
economy and easing the debt burden. International labor norms may be the basis
here. These norms are already supported on a tripartite basis. Millions of businesses
around the world are dying. They have no savings or access to credit. This is
the reality of the labor field today. If we do not help now, they will simply
perish.
