World Employment and Social Outlook report

International Labour Organisation (ILO) has produced report of World Employment and Social Outlook Report 2019. The report, published by the ILO highlights the major factor which impact employability, quality of work and economic growth.

International labour organization (ILO) has identified key factors for sustainable development. World Employment and Social Outlook is based on point#8 which is decent work and economic growth.

List of sustainable development goal (SDG) by ILO

No poverty
Zero hunger
Good Health
Quality Education
Gender equality
Clean water and sanitation
Affordable and clean energy
Decent work and economic growth
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Reduced inequality
Sustainable cities and communities
Responsible consumption
Climate action
Life below water
Life on land
Peace and justice
Partnership for the goals

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 calls upon the international community to “[p]romote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”. Attaining this goal will require far increased efforts, given how far current trends are from the targets envisaged under SDG 8. A number of SDG 8 targets deal with fundamental rights and protections that all people ought to enjoy in the world of work.

Key finding in World employment and social outlook report 2019

Consistent large gender gap in labour force participation

Labour force participation rate for men is 75%, whereas it is 48% for women. For last 15 years, this gap remains as it is. This requires policy action aiming to improve gender equality in global labour markets and maximizing human capabilities.

Declining labour force participation rate

There has been decline in overall labour participation due to a big decline in young people aged 15-24 in labour force participation. This is due to some positive factors like increased educational enrollment, greater retirement opportunities and higher life expectancy.

Rise in dependency ratio

Dependency ratio = proportion of economically inactive people relative to active one in workforce

There has been increase in dependency ratio. This is a potential threat to countries as it will cause burden on resources.

Huge decent work deficits

There has been decline in quality work among labour force. Being employment does not often mean a decent living. There is lack of material well-being, economic security and equal opportunities for people in labour force. About 25% of workers in low and mid income countries are living in extreme or moderate poverty. In low income countries, the pace of poverty reduction is not expected to keep up with employment growth.

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Total 5% of people are unemployed globally

In lot of countries, unemployment rate has improved. However, it has decreased to pre-financial crisis era (2008) now. This unemployment rate is expected to remain same for 2019-20.

Labour underutilization is more prevalent among women

Under utilized labour – Potential labour force who are looking for a job but are not available to take up employment, or who are available but are not looking for a job.

About 140 million people are classified as underutilized labour. About 11% of women come in this category instead of 7.1% of men.

Decreasing child labour

In 2016, there were still 114 million children aged 5 to 14 years in employment, and although their number is decreasing, this is happening at too slow a rate to meet the target of ending child labour in all its forms by 2025.

Workplace safety among men and migrants

The rate of occupational injury tends to be much higher among men than among women. In most countries, migrants are also at somewhat greater risk of suffering occupational injuries than non-migrants.

Poor performance of some macroeconomic factors

The least developed countries experienced annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth of less than 5 per cent over the past five years, which means they have fallen short of the SDG 8 target of at least 7 per cent growth per annum. In addition, recent rates of growth of GDP per capita, and of labour productivity, are below the levels reported in previous decades in most parts of the world.