The Hindu : National : Globalisation failing to create new, better jobs: ILO report

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Saturday, Dec 10, 2005

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Globalisation failing to create new, better jobs: ILO report

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Global economic growth is increasingly failing to translate into new and better jobs that would lead to reduction in poverty, according to a report issued by the International Labour Office (ILO) on Friday. The ILO points out that within this global trend, different regions show mixed results in terms of job creation, productivity results, wage improvements and poverty reduction.

The fourth edition of Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM) says that at present, half the world's workers do not earn enough to lift themselves and their families above the $2 a day poverty line.

Less favourable

The study says that while in some areas of Asia, economic expansion is fostering solid growth in jobs and improvements in living conditions, areas such as Africa and parts of Latin America are seeing increasing numbers of people working in less favourable conditions, especially in the agricultural sector. The KILM says that for millions of workers, new jobs often provide barely enough income to lift them above the poverty line, or are far below any adequate measure of satisfying and productive work. The total number of working women and men living on less than $2 a day has not fallen over the past decade although at 1.38 billion it is a smaller share of global employment at just below 50 per cent, a decline from 57 per cent in 1994.

The report emphasises that in many developing economies the problem is mainly lack of decent and productive work opportunities, than outright unemployment. Women and men are working long and hard for very little because their only alternative is to have no income at all.

Key indicators

The new KILM paints an in-depth picture of both the quantity and quality of jobs around the world by examining 20 key indicators of the labour market. The KILM covers quantitative topics such as labour force participation, employment, inactivity, employment elasticities, sectoral employment, labour productivity and unemployment, and qualitative issues such as hours worked, wages, employment status, unemployment duration and others.

The KILM shows that between 1990 and 2000, wages increased faster in high-skilled occupations than in low-skilled occupations globally.

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