ILO REPORT

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Context

• Recovery in the global labour market is threatened by multiple and interlinked global crises, as well as increasing inequalities, according to the latest ILO ninth edition of the Monitor on the world of work.

Key findings of the report

• Multiple global crises are causing a marked deterioration in the global labour market recovery, with increasing inequalities within and between countries.
• After the significant gains during the last quarter of 2021, the number of hours worked globally dropped in the first quarter of 2022, to 3.8 per cent below the pre-crisis benchmark (fourth quarter of 2019).
• Multiple new and interconnected global crises, including inflation (especially in energy and food prices), financial turbulence, potential debt distress, and global supply chain disruption – exacerbated by war in Ukraine – means there is a growing risk of a further deterioration in hours worked in 2022, as well as a broader impact on global labour markets in the months to come.
• While high-income countries experienced a recovery in hours worked, low- and lower-middle-income economies suffered setbacks in the first quarter of the year with a 3.6 and 5.7 per cent gap respectively when compared to the pre-crisis benchmark. These diverging trends are likely to worsen in the second quarter of 2022.
• In some developing countries, governments are increasingly constrained by the lack of fiscal space and debt sustainability challenges, while enterprises face economic and financial uncertainties and workers continue to be left without sufficient access to social protection.
• 30-60% of workers – five crore people – who lost jobs during the lockdown have not joined any work.
• The women’s employment in India has come down, particularly in sectors such as healthcare as a result of the pandemic.

About ILO

• It was created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I, to reflect the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based on social justice.
• The Organization has played a role at key historical junctures – the Great Depression, decolonization, the creation of Solidarność in Poland, the victory over apartheid in South Africa – and today in the building of an ethical and productive framework for fair globalization.
• The driving forces for the ILO's creation arose from security, humanitarian, political and economic considerations.
• It is the only tripartite U.N. agency. It brings together governments, employers and workers of 187 member States, to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.

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