From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the number of unemployed people worldwide is projected to increase by almost 3 million to 208 million in 2023, indicating a 5.8 per cent global unemployment rate.
The ILO report noted that high-income countries’ limited labour supply is a major factor in this expected increase.
“This would mark a reversal of the decline in global unemployment seen between 2020-2022. It means that global unemployment will remain 16 million above the pre-crisis benchmark (set in 2019).”
The report, titled, World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2023 (WESO Trends), also projects that global employment growth will be only 1.0 per cent in 2023, less than half the level in 2022.
“The current global economic slump is likely to drive more employees to choose worse quality, lower paying employment with no job security or social protection, according to a statement published on the ILO website.
“The situation would also accentuate inequalities exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis.”
In addition to unemployment, “job quality remains a key concern”, the report said, adding that “Decent Work is fundamental to social justice”. A decade of progress in poverty reduction faltered during the COVID-19 crisis. Despite a nascent recovery during 2021, the continuing shortage of better job opportunities is likely to worsen, the study showed.
“Due to the current slowdown, many workers may be forced to accept positions of poorer quality, frequently at extremely low pay, and occasionally with insufficient hours.
“Furthermore, the cost-of-living crisis runs the risk of putting more people into poverty as prices rise faster than nominal labour incomes. This pattern begins after the COVID-19 crisis, which in many nations had the greatest impact on low-income populations and resulted in considerable income decreases.
“The global jobs gap is a brand-new, all-inclusive indicator of unmet demand for employment identified in the research,” says the report.