Jobs needed for sustainable growth

More than 600 million new jobs need to be created over the next decade in order to generate sustainable growth and maintain social cohesion, according to the annual report on global employment by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Moreover, the report, “Global Employment Trends 2012: Preventing a deeper jobs crisis”, says that more than 400 million new jobs will be needed over the next decade to absorb the estimated 40 million growth of the labour force each year.

“After three years of continuous crisis conditions in global labour markets and against the prospect of a further deterioration of economic activity, there is a backlog of global unemployment of 200 million,” says the ILO.

The report also said that the world faces the additional challenge of creating decent jobs for the estimated 900 million workers living with their families below the $2 a day poverty line.

“Despite strenuous government efforts, the jobs crisis continues unabated, with one in three workers worldwide, or an estimated 1.1 billion people either unemployed or living in poverty,” said ILO director-general Juan Somavia.

The report calls for targeted measures to support job growth in the real economy, and warns that additional public support measures alone will not be enough to foster a sustainable recovery.

The report adds: “Policy-makers must act decisively and in a coordinated fashion to reduce the fear and uncertainty that is hindering private investment so that the private sector can restart the main engine of global job creation.”