Geneva, 25 May 2022 (TDI): The global jobs market is going into reverse due to the onset of multiple crises, inequalities and Covid-19, said the Director-General of the UN Labor Agency (ILO), Guy Ryder.
While highlighting various inequalities due to the surge of global crisis, Ryder said that the tentative signs of recovery in the global employment level in the final months of the previous year have been destabilized due to the rise in food and fuel prices.
The UN chief highlighted that the impacts of these crises could be devastating and could translate into social and political dislocation. He was addressing journalists in Geneva on Monday.
Impact of the Ukraine war
While discussing the impact of the conflict on Labor markets in Ukraine and other countries, the ILO Director-General stated that the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has disrupted the global supply chain whose full complete impact will materialize in the coming months.
“To a great extent this nascent labor market recovery has stalled, or gone into reverse,” remarked Ryder.
Employment gap and rising inequalities
According to the statistics by ILO, the number of full-time jobs has reduced after the pandemic. ILO chief underscored that the number of working hours has also reduced in 2022 after a significant recovery in 2021. He said that full-time jobs in less industrialized economies suffered more during the first quarter with a decline of 3.6 percent to 5.7 percent.
He warned the developing countries about worsening diverging trends in the second quarter of the year. These countries are already burdened due to tough fiscal policies and high debt repayment requirements. The UN Secretary-General has insisted on the need for an equitable global recovery strategy, he added.
World of Work Report
ILO’s Monitor on the World of Work shows low-income recovery. Three out of five workers are currently receiving lower payments in comparison to the pre-pandemic era.
ILO chief also underscored that women have been the hardest hit by the pandemic, especially in low and middle-income countries. The findings of ILO also suggest that many workers are exposed to post-pandemic impacts and are struggling with their jobs.
They are currently going 0.7 percent more work than men than the hours worked before the pandemic. Poor households and the informal economy have been hurt due to the enormous fallout of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Ryder explained that disruption in production and trade, and the rise in food and commodity prices is the exacerbation of the Russia-Ukraine war.
