Context:
International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) has released its “World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO): Trends 2025” report.
Key Highlights:
- Global Unemployment: The global unemployment rate remained steady at 5% in 2024, with youth unemployment notably high at 12.6%.
- Youth Unemployment: Highest in upper-middle-income countries at 16%, and lower in low-income countries at 8%, often due to underemployment and informal work.
- Challenges in Low-Income Countries: Low-income countries struggle to generate decent jobs, and informal employment has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
- Economic Growth Trends: Economic growth for 2024 was recorded at 3.2%, slightly down from 3.3% in 2023 and 3.6% in 2022.
- The report forecasts similar economic expansion in 2025, followed by a gradual deceleration in the medium term.
- Global Jobs Gap: The global jobs gap, representing the number of people who desire work but are unable to find it, stood at 402 million in 2024.
- The gap has narrowed since the Covid-19 pandemic but is expected to stabilize in the coming years.
- Labour Force Participation: Increased in advanced economies, particularly among older workers and women, but declined in low-income nations, contributing to slower employment growth globally.
- Debt Distress: High interest rates and economic challenges have resulted in unsustainable public debt, particularly in developing countries.
- Around 70 nations are at risk of debt distress, with many spending more on servicing debt than on essential services like health and education.
- Stagnant Wages: Real wage growth remains weak post-pandemic due to low employment growth and a shift in labor market power toward employers.
- Green Transition: The renewable energy sector saw global employment rise from 13.7 million in 2022 to 16.2 million in 2023, driven by investments in solar and hydrogen energy.
Source: TH
Previous Year Question
International Labour Organization’s Conventions 138 and 182 are related to
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2018 Prelims]
(a) Child Labour
(b) Adaptation of agricultural practices to global climate change
(c) Regulation of food prices and food security
(d) Gender parity at the workplace
Answer: (a)
