One in six young people out of work due to pandemic: ILO

One in six young people have lost jobs since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic with women most affected while those who remain employed have seen their working hours cut by 23%, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Wednesday, calling for targeted policy reforms to support youth.

“The COVID-19 economic crisis is hitting young people, especially women, harder and faster than any other group,” ILO director general Guy Ryder said. “If their talent and energy is side-lined by a lack of opportunity or skills it will damage all our futures and make it much more difficult to re-build a better, post-COVID economy,” Ryder said.

According to ILO, the pandemic is inflicting a triple shock on young people. “Not only is it destroying their employment, but it is also disrupting education and training, and placing major obstacles in the way of those seeking to enter the labour market or to move between jobs,” it said.

The ILO has called for urgent, large-scale and targeted policy responses to support youth, including broad-based employment and training guarantee programmes in developed countries, and employment-intensive programmes and guarantees in low- and middle-income economies.

An estimated 4.8%of working hours were lost during Q1 2021 (equivalent to approximately 135 million full-time jobs, assuming a 48-hour working week). This represents a slight upward revision of around 7 million jobs since the third edition of the report. The estimated number of jobs lost in the second quarter remain unchanged at 305 million, ILO said.

From a regional perspective, the Americas (13.1%), and Europe and Central Asia (12.9%) present the largest losses in work hours in the second quarter.

ILO reiterated immediate and urgent measures are needed to support workers and enterprises along the ILO’s four-pillar strategy that includes stimulating the economy and employment; supporting enterprises, jobs and incomes; protecting workers in the workplace and relying on social dialogue for solutions.

“Creating an employment-rich recovery that also promotes equity and sustainability means getting people and enterprises working again as soon as possible, in safe conditions,” said Ryder.

“Testing and tracing can be an important part of the policy package if we are to fight fear, reduce risk and get our economies and societies moving again quickly.”

Youth unemployment was highest in 2019 at 13.6%, higher than for any other group. There were around 267 million young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) worldwide. Besides, the working population in the 15-24 year age group who were employed are also more likely to be in forms of work that leave them vulnerable, such as low paid occupations, informal sector work, or as migrant workers.