Economic slowdowns may force people to settle for ‘lower quality jobs’

Finding a job may not be as easy as it can be this year, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

In their latest report, the ILO said that global employment is only projected to grow by one percent in 2023 — less than half of last year. Meanwhile, unemployed individuals are expected to rise to 208 million.

Wages in advanced countries are also reported to have declined by 2.2% last year, contributing more to the headache of the large working population around the world.

The report also calculates the size of the global jobs gap to have been 473 million in 2022.

From a gender perspective, the unequal development of the global jobs market continues to be concerning, said Manuela Tomei, ILO Assistant Director-General for Governance, Rights and Dialogue.

“Serious gender gaps in terms of labor force participation, in terms of pay, in terms of social protection continue to exist…There are 290 million youth who are not in employment, or in education or in training and young women are faring much worse.”

Because of these unfortunate figures and the current global economic slowdown, the United Nations (UN) warned that people might have to settle for lower-quality jobs offering low pay and insufficient hours. 

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