The covid-19 pandemic will continue to affect employment more intensely than expected in 2021, according to estimates by the World Labor Organization (ILO) published this Wednesday (27).
The new edition of the ILO Observatory on covid-19 shows that the loss in number of working hours in 2021 by the pandemic will be significantly greater than previously predicted.
The most recent forecast puts the number of hours lost at 4.3% compared to the period before the pandemic, against -3.5% in the June estimate.
“The current trajectory of the labor market is marked by a stagnant recovery, with the emergence of greater risks of deterioration and by large differences between developed and developing economies”, said ILO Director General Guy Ryder.
“We’ve seen dramatically that it’s the uneven availability of vaccines and budget-response capabilities that fuels these trends,” he said.
The report shows that working hours are recovering in high- and upper-middle-income countries, while working hours continue to record significant losses in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
By regions, Europe and Central Asia registered the slightest declines compared to the period before the pandemic (-2.5%), followed by Asia-Pacific (-4.6%). The situation is more serious in Africa (-5.6%), the Americas (-5.4%) and Arab countries (6.5%).
There are also inequalities between different sectors and young people, especially young women, are the most affected at work.
The ILO attributes the situation in less developed countries to budgetary constraints and poor access to vaccines, in addition to the risks of over-indebtedness and problems in supply chains around the world.
The organization believes that if countries with lower income had fairer access to vaccines, in just one quarter they could achieve recovery in terms of working hours in the richer economies.
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