ILO: Biggest crisis on the global labor market since the Great Depression in the 1930s. No improvement expected this year
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 8.8 percent of the world's working hours were lost in the past year – that is almost a quarter of a billion full-time positions. The decline is therefore about four times greater than the loss during the financial and economic crisis in 2009. This is the biggest crisis for work worldwide since the Great Depression in the 1930s, said ILO boss Guy Ryder in a virtual press conference.
The ILO calculated that around half of the lost working hours were incurred by employees who are still in their jobs. The other half broke into jobs, which also disappeared – leaving the workers unemployed.
“Just disappeared”
According to official figures, global unemployment rose by only 1.1 percentage points or 33 million people to 6.5 percent or 220 million people. Ryder emphasized that around 81 million more people were not even registered as unemployed – “they just disappeared”. Either they couldn't work because of the restrictions or they'd given up looking for a job. “Their talents, skills, energies are lost, lost to their families, lost to society, lost to all of us.”
Loss of income
According to the calculations, workers' income fell by 8.3 percent last year – that is 3.7 billion dollars (3 billion euros) or 4.4 percent of the world's gross domestic product (GDP). The prospects for a quick recovery as the vaccinations against the coronavirus progress are “uncertain”, warned the ILO.
Women and young people
According to the ILO study, loss of work and jobs primarily affects women and young people. Women are more likely to work in industries that are particularly affected by corona-related restrictions, and to a greater extent take on the care of children who are not allowed to go to school. Young people have a particularly difficult time when they are just entering work. Many had given up on this in the corona crisis, explained the ILO. “The risk of a lost generation is real.”
Gloomy forecast
The view into the near future is also rather pessimistic. This year the ILO expects a further decrease in working hours of 4.6 percent in a worst-case scenario – in the optimistic scenario it is a further 1.3 percent. That would be another 36 million jobs.
