World of Work Report 2013: Repairing the Economic and Social Fabric

“Almost five years after the global financial crisis, the global employment situation remains uneven. There are encouraging signs of recovery, which started to materialize in some countries in 2010, but global labour market indicators have still not recovered to their pre-crisis levels. In emerging and developing economies, labour markets have started to recover—in some cases quite rapidly. Yet even these countries face the challenge of ensuring that enough decent jobs are created to accommodate the strong growth in the working-age population. In advanced economies, unemployment spells have lengthened and more workers are becoming discouraged and dropping out of the labour market altogether. This not only has adverse consequences on individuals and their families, but also can weaken previously stable societies, as opportunities to advance in a good job and improve one’s standard of living become the exception rather than the rule.” This report provided an overview of the key labour market trends that have been shaping the world of work since the global economic crisis, from both global and regional perspectives. It also presented trends in employment and unemployment projections and analysed structural changes in the labour market. This report then linked these changes with social outlook, measured by the social unrest index (p.2). (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

• “Employment rates (the proportion of people of working age who have a job) exceed pre-crisis levels in 30 per cent of the countries analysed. In 37 per cent of the countries, employment rates have increased in recent years, but not enough to return to the pre-crisis situation, while in the remaining 33 per cent of countries, employment rates have continued to decline. Based on current trends, employment rates across emerging and developing economies will return to pre-crisis levels in 2015, while employment rates in advanced economies will only return to the pre-crisis situation after 2017” (p.1). • “At the global level, the number of unemployed people will continue to increase unless policies change course. Global unemployment is expected to approach 208 million in 2015, compared with slightly over 200 million at the time of publication” (p.1). • “Key labour market weaknesses that preceded the crisis have remained acute or worsened, even in high-growth economies. For example, over the past five years, the incidence of long-term unemployment (the share of unemployed persons out of work for 12 months or more) has increased in 60 per cent of the advanced and developing economies for which data exist” (p.1). • “In addition, many workers have become discouraged and are no longer actively looking for a job. Labour force participation rates decreased between 2007 and 2012 in more than half of the countries analysed. In those countries where labour force participation rates declined by a full percentage point or more, on average around one-quarter of the decline was due to cyclical effects and the remaining three-quarters to structural changes in the population. If the people who made up the cyclical decline in the labour force participation rate were currently in the labour force and counted as unemployed, the unemployment rate would not be significantly higher” (p.1-2). • “These trends have fueled social tensions in advanced economies and some developing countries, notably in southern Europe, South Asia and the Arab region. The risk of unrest has receded in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. Chapters 2 to 5 discuss the consequences of policy inaction and examine policy levers that could be used to put a more even recovery in motion” (p.2). (Abstractor: Author)

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• Resource Publication Date: 2013
• Author(s): Torres, Raymond; Lopez Mourelo, Elva; Khatiwada, Sameer; Corley, Marva; Richiardi, Pelin, et al.
• Organizational Author(s): International Institute for Labour Studies; International Labour Organization
• Funding Source: Self-funded
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
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• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies