According to a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the global employment graph is unlikely to recover to the pre-pandemic levels before 2023. The report states that there has been a shortfall of the working hours which is equivalent to 52 million full-time jobs.

ILO’s report states that the global work hours are expected to stand 2% below that of the pre-pandemic period. In fact, the rate of global unemployment in the current period is much higher than that of the pre-Covid era, with 5.9% in 2022, an improvement from 6.2% last year and 6.6% in 2020, but still above 5.4%in 2019. In 2022, 207 million people are expected to be out of work against 186 million in 2019.

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder termed the path of recovery to be “slow and uncertain”. In the official communique, Ryder said, “We are already seeing potentially lasting damage to labour markets, along with concerning increases in poverty and inequality… Many workers are being required to shift to new types of work – for example in response to the prolonged slump in international travel and tourism.”

The report reveals that the strongest signs of recovery were being shown by North America and Europe, while the labour markets of Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean did the worst.

Ryder further added, “There can be no real recovery from this pandemic without a broad-based labour market recovery. And to be sustainable, this recovery must be based on the principles of decent work – including health and safety, equity, social protection and social dialogue.” 

The report noted that the damaging impact of the pandemic on jobs and livelihoods, if not quickly reversed, will run the risk of inducing long-term structural change with enduring adverse implications for labour markets.