The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on jobs has been harder than previously expected, and a worrying two-speed recovery is emerging between richer and poorer nations.
GENEVA, Switzerland - The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on jobs has been harder than previously expected, and a worrying two-speed recovery is emerging between richer and poorer nations, the UN's International Labour Organization warned Wednesday.
The ILO projected that global hours worked in 2021 will be 4.3 percent lower than levels in the fourth quarter of 2019, prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. In June, the ILO had been projecting a decline of 3.5 percent, or 100 million full-time jobs. By region, Europe and Central Asia experienced the smallest loss of hours worked, and the Arab States the biggest, with the divergence largely driven by major differences in vaccine roll-outs and fiscal stimulus packages, the report said.
It estimated that for every 14 people fully vaccinated in the second quarter of this year, one full-time equivalent job was added to the global labour market.