The International Labour Organization (ILO) is projecting that the global jobs shortfall is to widen further in 2023 up from the 41 million recorded last year.

The Geneva-based organisation in a report released today (January 16) stated that a slowdown in employment is expected with total unemployment projected to hit 208 million, corresponding to a jobless rate of 5.8 per cent.

The global job shortfall is due to slower economic expansion risks heightening the challenges facing the world’s workers.

Employment levels is projected to rise by just 1 per cent this year, down from 2.3 per cent in 2022 with “no major improvement seen in 2024.”

“The current slowdown means that many workers will have to accept lower quality jobs, often at very low pay, sometimes with insufficient hours,” the ILO report indicated.

Job scarcity

The scarcity of new jobs will hit countries at a time when many are still recovering from the economic shock of the global pandemic and the coronavirus is tearing through China after Beijing lifted tight lockdown restrictions.

“The current slowdown means that many workers will have to accept lower quality jobs, often at very low pay, at times with inadequate hours,” the ILO report stated.

The repot explained that “furthermore, as prices rise faster than nominal labour incomes, the cost-of-living crisis risks pushing more people into poverty.”

It noted that progress in reducing the number of informal jobs in the world is also likely to be reversed in the coming years. The global jobs forecast is lower than the previous ILO estimate of 1.5 per cent growth for 2023.

The situation could worsen further if the global economy slows down, the ILO said.

“Most countries will fall short of a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels in the foreseeable future,” said ILO Director-General, Gilbert Houngbo.

 “Worse still, progress in labor markets is likely to be far too slow to reduce the enormous decent work deficits that existed prior to, and were exacerbated by, the pandemic,” Houngbo added.

The upshot could see workers, whose incomes are already being squeezed by soaring inflation, forced into lower-quality jobs than they may enjoy in better economic conditions.

Houngbo is urging governments to pursue coordinated actions to address the lack of access to employment, poor job quality, insufficient pay and other inequalities.