The job loss due to COVID-19 worldwide is projected to remain high, with a shortfall of 74 million jobs in 2021 and 22 million in 2022. The report noted that the virus has already infected tens of millions of people, and the resurgence of the infection is likely to bring more deaths and illnesses. The global employment rate was 6.5 percent in 2017 – the highest since 1970.
According to Covid-19, an annual employment outlook released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, around 22 million jobs will be lost in developed countries by 2020. This is four times higher than the global unemployment rate in 2008-2009, which was 3.4 percent. Nevertheless, the ILO warns that this crisis is unjustly affecting workers. While the virus is spreading quickly in many countries, young and female workers are disproportionately affected, and the ILO estimates that there will be more long-term job losses due to Covid-19.
The ILO says the pandemic has caused the loss of 114 million jobs worldwide. The ILO calculates that working hours were reduced by 255 million full-time jobs in 2020. The loss of these jobs caused a drop in the global labor income of $3.7 trillion. Fortunately, millions of people have already returned to work, and the ILO expects that working hours will recover to pre-COVID levels by 2021. But if this virus continues to spread, the impact on the labor market will be more severe and lasting than many think.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are far worse in developing countries. Low-income countries, like the Philippines and Kenya, saw fewer deaths and reduced productivity. In these countries, more than half of all workers lost their jobs due to the disease. In countries like India, Thailand, and Peru, the rate was less than one percent. However, the effect on working hours is still disproportionately higher for women and younger workers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the labor markets worldwide. It has caused a significant job loss for many people in the Philippines, Kenya, and other low-income countries. The U.S. has fared better than the EU in this regard, with almost a third of the total job losses in the US being due to the virus. And the EU has implemented massive employment retention schemes, despite its relatively small population.
In Conclusion
The ILO’s latest report on the effects of the Covid-19 virus on the global economy revealed a starkly different picture. In the Philippines, where the ILO reported a high death toll of around 2 percent, two out of every three workers lost their jobs – while in Kenya, one in three workers without a college degree suffered a 3% death rate. In the Philippines, however, the ILO estimated that the disease would result in a global loss of 90 million full-time jobs by 2021, which is equivalent to ninety million full-time jobs. In Zimbabwe, Thailand, Peru, and Thailand, the ILO pointed out that a lower number of employees would be affected by the crisis.
