Nearly half a billion working-age people lack adequate paid work, and the International Labour Organization says the problem is getting worse, not better. The Geneva-based body, in its flagship annual outlook on jobs, put the number of people worldwide who are unemployed or underemployed at more than 470 million.
The total is built from three overlapping groups: 165 million people who have a job but want more hours, 188 million who are unemployed, and 120 million who have stopped searching or cannot get into the job market at all. Together they represent about 13% of the global labour force, the ILO said.
The official unemployment count alone is expected to climb to 190.5 million this year, up from 188 million in 2019, as slowing economies offer fewer jobs to a growing population. Another 285 million people are considered underemployed, meaning they work less than they want to, have stopped searching, or cannot enter the labour market.
ILO director-general Guy Ryder told reporters in Geneva that the trend is feeding discontent. “For millions of working people, it is becoming increasingly difficult I think to build better lives through work,” he said. He called the situation “an extremely worrying finding” and linked a lack of decent work to the protest movements and unrest seen in places like Lebanon and Chile.
Beyond the headline total, the report documents deeper distress. More than 60% of the global workforce labours in the informal economy, often for substandard wages and without basic social protections. In 2019, some 630 million people lived in working poverty on less than US$3.20 a day in purchasing power. A further 267 million young people between 15 and 24 were outside employment, education or training.
Sources
- World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2020. ILO | ILO/Cinterfor
- More than 470 million currently unemployed or underemployed, warns UN — MercoPress
