Severe job losses due to COVID-19, warns UN body

Almost 1.6 billion workers in the informal economy, which is nearly half of the global workforce, face an immediate danger of losing their jobs. This is because of the continued sharp decline in working hours because of the COVID-19 outbreak. This is a warning from the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

The ILO, a United Nations agency, warned that over 430 million enterprises in sectors like retail and manufacturing risk serious disruption.

Around the world, there are over three billion workers, with two billion working in the informal economy. This is the most vulnerable group in the labour market.

The ILO has said that 1.6 billion “have suffered massive damage to their capacity to earn a living” as a result of the economic meltdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Workers in this sector have seen a 60% drop in income during the first month of the crisis. ILO Director General Guy Ryder said as the pandemic and the jobs crisis grows, there is a need to look at protecting the most vulnerable workers.

For millions of workers, no income means no food, no security and no future. Millions of businesses around the world are barely breathing. They have no savings or access to credit. These are the real faces of the world of work. If we don’t help them now, they will simply perish. – Guy Ryder, Director General, International Labour Organisation

Over 400 million enterprises in wholesale and retail, manufacturing, accommodation, and other economic sectors that have been hardest hit, face the highest risks.

The ILO also stressed that international coordination on stimulus packages and debt relief measures will be critical to making recovery effective and sustainable.

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