The International Labour Organization's (ILO) latest data reveals that hundreds of millions of jobs might be lost in the second quarter of 2020 (April-June) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a report released on April 7, 2020, the ILO announced that the COVID-19 crisis is expected to wipe out 6.7 per cent of working hours globally in the second quarter of 2020 – equivalent to 195 million full-time workers.
The data further explained that the sectors most at risk include accommodation and food services, manufacturing, retail, and business and administrative activities.
According to the reports, more than four out of five people (81 per cent) in the global workforce of 3.3 billion are currently affected by full or partial workplace closures.
The report further informs that 1.25 billion workers worldwide are employed in the sectors identified as being at high risk of “drastic and devastating” increases in layoffs and reductions in wages and working hours.
Many of these workers were classified as participating in low-paid, low-skilled jobs, where a sudden loss of income would be devastating.
The report further explained that the proportion of workers in these “at-risk” sectors varies from 43 per cent in the Americas to around 26 per cent in Africa.
The study further explained that worldwide, two billion people work in the informal sector (mostly in emerging and developing economies) and they are the ones who are particularly at risk.
"Some regions, particularly Africa, have higher levels of informality, which combined with a lack of social protection, high population density, and weak capacity, pose severe health and economic challenges for governments," the report cautions.
ILO Director-General Guy Ryder warned that the players in the economic sector need to move fast, decisively, and together to ensure that the right, urgent, measures, are put in place, a matter that he affirmed is the difference between survival and collapse.
"This is the greatest test for international cooperation in more than 75 years. If one country fails, then we all fail. We must find solutions that help all segments of our global society, particularly those that are most vulnerable or least able to help themselves.”
“The choices we make today will directly affect the way this crisis unfolds and so the lives of billions of people. With the right measures we can limit its impact and the scars it leaves. We must aim to build back better so that our new systems are safer, fairer and more sustainable than those that allowed this crisis to happen,” Ryder added.
