The country's unemployment rate will likely remain at 5% in 2022, higher than the pre-pandemic level by 0.6%
File photo shows some day labourers having food at Gabtoli in Dhaka Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune
Tribune Report
Publish : 18 Jan 2022, 07:04 PMUpdate : 18 Jan 2022, 07:04 PM
About 3.6 million people in Bangladesh are expected to remain unemployed this year, surpassing the pre-pandemic level by half a million, according to a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The country's unemployment rate will likely remain at 5% in 2022, higher than the pre-pandemic level by 0.6%.
Since the onset of the recovery, employment growth trends in low- and middle-income countries, including Bangladesh, have remained significantly below those observed in richer economies, owing largely to the lower vaccination rates and tighter fiscal space in developing countries, the report reads.
"The impact has been particularly serious for developing nations that experienced higher levels of inequality, more divergent working conditions and weaker social protection systems even before the pandemic," adds the World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends (WESO) report 2022, which was released on Monday.
Moreover, global employment will not recover to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2023, with a projected shortfall in hours worked this year equivalent to 52 million full-time jobs.
While an improvement compared with 2021, hours worked globally are expected to remain 2% below levels seen before Covid-19, the UN labour body thinks.
ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said the global labour market faces a slow and uncertain path to recovery.
“We are already seeing potentially lasting damage to labour markets, along with concerning increase in poverty and inequality,” Ryder said in a press release that accompanied the report.
“Many workers are being required to shift to new types of work; for example, in response to the prolonged slump in international travel and tourism.
“There can be no real recovery from this pandemic without a broad-based labour market recovery,” Ryder added.
“And to be sustainable, this recovery must be based on the principles of decent work – including health and safety, equity, social protection and social dialogue,” he further said.
The ILO report warned that emerging economies have not recovered at the same pace as their developed peers, with underlying inequalities “amplifying and prolonging the adverse impact of the crisis.”
North America and Europe displayed the strongest signs of recovery, while labour markets in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean fared the worst, according to the report.
“The damaging impact of the pandemic on jobs and livelihoods, if not quickly reversed, will run the risk of inducing long-term structural change with enduring adverse implications for labour markets,” the report said.
“Uneven impacts of containment measures and the decent work deficits that they have contributed to are threatening the prospects for sustainable and inclusive economic growth.”
The UN body also discussed the disproportionate decline in women’s employment and school closures that have had “cascading long-term implications for the employment and further education and training of young people, especially those who have had limited or no access to online learning opportunities”.
The report recommended rebuilding the economy in ways that address systemic and structural inequalities alongside other challenges such as climate change.
“Throughout the recovery period, macroeconomic policies will need to go beyond a countercyclical role, merely seeking a return to pre-crisis outcomes, since this would not address decent work deficits or leave countries any less vulnerable to future crises,” the report said.
“Fiscal policies must not only aim to protect jobs, incomes and employment, but also address structural challenges and root causes of decent work deficits across the world.”
Get ready for even higher unemployment in 2022
The country's unemployment rate will likely remain at 5% in 2022, higher than the pre-pandemic level by 0.6%
About 3.6 million people in Bangladesh are expected to remain unemployed this year, surpassing the pre-pandemic level by half a million, according to a report by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The country's unemployment rate will likely remain at 5% in 2022, higher than the pre-pandemic level by 0.6%.
Since the onset of the recovery, employment growth trends in low- and middle-income countries, including Bangladesh, have remained significantly below those observed in richer economies, owing largely to the lower vaccination rates and tighter fiscal space in developing countries, the report reads.
"The impact has been particularly serious for developing nations that experienced higher levels of inequality, more divergent working conditions and weaker social protection systems even before the pandemic," adds the World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends (WESO) report 2022, which was released on Monday.
Moreover, global employment will not recover to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2023, with a projected shortfall in hours worked this year equivalent to 52 million full-time jobs.
While an improvement compared with 2021, hours worked globally are expected to remain 2% below levels seen before Covid-19, the UN labour body thinks.
ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said the global labour market faces a slow and uncertain path to recovery.
“We are already seeing potentially lasting damage to labour markets, along with concerning increase in poverty and inequality,” Ryder said in a press release that accompanied the report.
“Many workers are being required to shift to new types of work; for example, in response to the prolonged slump in international travel and tourism.
“There can be no real recovery from this pandemic without a broad-based labour market recovery,” Ryder added.
“And to be sustainable, this recovery must be based on the principles of decent work – including health and safety, equity, social protection and social dialogue,” he further said.
The ILO report warned that emerging economies have not recovered at the same pace as their developed peers, with underlying inequalities “amplifying and prolonging the adverse impact of the crisis.”
North America and Europe displayed the strongest signs of recovery, while labour markets in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean fared the worst, according to the report.
“The damaging impact of the pandemic on jobs and livelihoods, if not quickly reversed, will run the risk of inducing long-term structural change with enduring adverse implications for labour markets,” the report said.
“Uneven impacts of containment measures and the decent work deficits that they have contributed to are threatening the prospects for sustainable and inclusive economic growth.”
The UN body also discussed the disproportionate decline in women’s employment and school closures that have had “cascading long-term implications for the employment and further education and training of young people, especially those who have had limited or no access to online learning opportunities”.
The report recommended rebuilding the economy in ways that address systemic and structural inequalities alongside other challenges such as climate change.
“Throughout the recovery period, macroeconomic policies will need to go beyond a countercyclical role, merely seeking a return to pre-crisis outcomes, since this would not address decent work deficits or leave countries any less vulnerable to future crises,” the report said.
“Fiscal policies must not only aim to protect jobs, incomes and employment, but also address structural challenges and root causes of decent work deficits across the world.”
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