Geneva, May 17 (Xinhua-ANI): G-20 countries would need to create 21 million jobs in 2012 in order to return to pre-crisis employment levels, said a report jointly released on Thursday by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The report said the significant slowdown in economic activity recorded in several major economies and regions over the second-half of 2011 weighed heavily on the labour markets of many G20 countries; some of the earlier improvements faded and the risks that high unemployment and under-employment could become entrenched increased.
If employment continues to grow at the current rate of 1.5 percent, it will be impossible to close the approximately 21 million jobs gap that has accumulated across the G20 since the onset of the crisis in 2008.
"The G20 has the opportunity to tackle the roots of the persistent weaknesses of the global economy. It is now clear that the way forward is through the better integration of economic and social policies, with particular emphasis on productive investment, employment and decent work in order to generate new sources of demand", said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia.
The report highlighted the severity of youth unemployment-in all G20 countries the youth unemployment rate is two to three times higher than for adults, with an average of 19.2 percent, which doesn't include discouraged youth and those prolonging their studies in the face of an adverse labour market. But there is significant variance among countries, from around 7 percent in some to close to 50 percent in others, according to the report.
"Listening to young women and men, and having policies enabling all youth to enter the labour market with adequate education, vocational training, initial work experience and orientation, is a critical measure of our societies' ability to integrate the new generation," said Somavia.
The study also highlighted the high share of informal employment in emerging countries reaching an average of 45 percent in the eight G20 countries with available data.
Across the 20 countries, major changes are taking place in the sectoral composition of employment, the study said, adding that employment in public services has been one of the major sources of job creation since 2010. (Xinhua-ANI)
