ILO’s Employment Trends 2024 Report: Growing Social Inequalities Raise Concerns

LAGO – A new International Labour Organization (ILO) report has indicated that Labour markets have shown surprising resilience despite deteriorating economic conditions, but recovery from the pandemic remains uneven as new vulnerabilities and multiple crises are eroding prospects for greater social justice

The ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook Trends: 2024 (WESO Trends) finds that both the unemployment rate and the jobs gap rate – which is the number of persons without employment who are interested in finding a job – have fallen below pre-pandemic levels.

The 2023 global unemployment rate stood at 5.1 per cent, a modest improvement from 2022 when it stood at 5.3 per cent. The global jobs gap and labour market participation rates also improved in 2023.

However, beneath these numbers fragility is starting to emerge, the report finds. It projects that the labour market outlook and global unemployment will both worsen. In 2024 an extra two million workers are expected to be looking for jobs, raising the global unemployment rate from 5.1 per cent in 2023 to 5.2 per cent. Disposable incomes have declined in the majority of G20 countries and, generally, the erosion of living standards resulting from inflation is, “unlikely to be compensated quickly”.

Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, Director-General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), in swift response to the report, told Daily Independent that the current reality from the report, which reflects the global economy, may unsettle enterprises sustainability in the nation’s economy if the Federal Government did not take proactive measures to accomplish sustainable recovery, especially as many organisations are divesting due to unfavourable operating environments.

He said: We are worried that the nation’s workforce challenges poses a threat to both individual livelihoods and businesses and it is essential that the Federal Government tackle them effectively and fast.

“This is because the falling living standards and weak productivity combined with persistent inflation create the conditions for greater inequality and undermine efforts to achieve sustainable economic recovery”.

According to Oyerinde, firms leaving the country will only worsen the unemployment situation; it will also exacerbate the challenges of insecurity and put more pressure on households.

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The NECA’s Director General, said the Federal Government needed to act urgently so that the negative consequences would not be too much for Nigeria.

He said the government could achieve this by basically providing more support for organised businesses and making the business environment more hospitable not only for local investors but foreign investors.

“Once you get the businesses sustainable and focus on skills development, as more people get the requisite become employers of labour, so drasskills and competencies, they also tically from both ends, you will reduce the issue of unemployment,” he said.

The ILO report noted that despite quickly declining after 2020, the number of workers living in extreme poverty (earning less than $2.15 per person per day in purchasing power parity terms) grew by about 1 million in 2023.

The number of workers living in moderate poverty (earning less than $3.65 per day per person in PPP terms) increased by 8.4 million in 2023.

It warned that income inequality has also widened, stating that the erosion of real disposable income, “bodes ill for aggregate demand and a more sustained economic recovery.”

It added that rates of informal work are expected to remain static, accounting for around 58 per cent of the global workforce in 2024.

Presenting the report, ILO Director-General, Gilbert Houngbo, explained how growing inequalities and stagnant productivity are causes for concern.

Giving a deeper analysis, he revealed that labour market imbalances, unfortunately, are growing in a time of multiple and interacting global crises, thus eroding progress towards greater social justice. He lamented that the growing imbalances in economies and social systems pose a serious challenge to the goal of an equitable and just transition to a sustainable future.

Noting that this should be a cause of concern to nations, he said not only because it threatens economic well-being, but also because it threatens decent work is an essential component of greater social justice “And we need greater social justice if we are to build a future that is sustainable, equitable, and peaceful,” he said.

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