Geneva, Oct 31, (DPA/GNA) – Labour markets worldwide are under immense pressure from several overlapping crises, including the climate crisis, the pandemic and conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, the International Labour Organization (ILO) reported on Monday.
The initial recovery from the pandemic slowed throughout the year, with the ILO estimating that 1.5% fewer hours were worked in the third quarter of the year, compared to the years before the pandemic. This corresponds to 40 million full-time jobs.
The main factors, said the ILO, are disruptions in the labour market in China, due to its zero-Covid policy, and the consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The ILO said the situation in Ukraine is dire, with 10.4% of those employed before the war, a total of 1.6 million people, now refugees in other countries.
Around a quarter of them, (28%), have found work in their host countries, leading to consequences for both Ukraine and the host countries.
In the face of a deteriorating global economic outlook, the head of the ILO, Gilbert Houngbo, said a redistribution of windfall profits and better social safeguards for vulnerable people and companies were crucial.
Houngbo promoted a UN plan, which advocates for investments into climate-neutral economies, that would create around 400 million new jobs by 2030.
GNA