The world has seen a drop of 14 per cent working hours in the second quarter of 2020 because of the coronavirus crisis, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). This was equivalent to the loss of 400 million full-time jobs.
The recent calculations have come up in the ILO monitor: Covid 19 and the World of Work: 5th edition. The International Organisation said that the figures showed the worsening situation over the past weeks, especially in the developing economies. In America, the loss was estimated at 18.3 per cent, Europe and Central Asia 13.9 per cent, Asia and the Pacific 13.5 per cent, Arab States 13.2 per cent, and Africa had a loss of 12.1 per cent of work force.
Meanwhile, ILO director Guy Ryder said that concrete steps should be taken for building a better future of work.
The ILO said that long-term outcome will depend on the future trajectory of the pandemic and policies of the various governments.
With respect to women workers, the ILO said that women workers were largely affected by the pandemic. It also cautioned that the progress on gender equality made in recent decades will be lost and work related gender inequalities will be exacerbated. The ILO noted that women workers were largely affected because of their employment in sectors that were worst hit by Covid 19 pandemic. This included accommodation, sales, manufacturing and food. They also form a major bulk of the domestic work force.
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