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Lucubrate Magazine, January 29th, 2023
Hundreds of millions of people lack access to paid employment. Incomes are distributed highly unequally, so many workers fail to escape poverty. Labour market prospects are highly unequal, not only across but also within countries. Gender gaps exist in all areas of the world of work, and young people face particular challenges.[1]
The global jobs gap
The global jobs gap stood at 473 million people in 2022, corresponding to a jobs gap rate of 12.3 per cent. The international jobs gap consists of the 205 million unemployed (corresponding to an unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent) and 268 million people who have an unmet need for employment but are outside the labour force because they do not satisfy the criteria to be considered unemployed. [1]
Personal and family responsibilities (including unpaid care work), discouragement by the lack of decent employment opportunities, and scarcity of possibilities for (re)training can prevent many people from seeking employment or limit their availability to work at short notice. The job gap is particularly large for women and in developing countries. Although men and women currently face similar global unemployment rates, the jobs gap for women is 15.0 per cent, compared with 10.5 per cent for men. Low-income and lower-middle-income countries present high job gap rates, between 13 and 20 per cent. In contrast, upper-middle-income countries show a gap of around 11 per cent, and high-income countries register a gap of only 8 per cent.[1]
Low pay and inconvenient hours
Without access to social protection, many people cannot afford to be without a job. They accept any work, often with very low pay and inconvenient or insufficient hours. The projected slowdown is, therefore, likely to force workers to take jobs of worse quality than they might enjoy in better economic conditions. Furthermore, with prices rising faster than nominal wages, workers will experience rapidly declining disposable incomes even when they can keep their current jobs.[1]
References
[1] World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2023, ILO 2023
Lucubrate Magazine January 2023
The photo on the top of the article: Adobe Stock
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