Experts are ill-at ease over the already gloomy unemployment situation across the globe judging by the new report released by the International Labour Organisation, ILO, which indicates that the number of unemployed persons in the world could rise to 208 million by 2015.
According to the World of Work report released in Geneva, Switzerland, the ILO revealed that global unemployment was expected to hit 208 million in 2015, a rise from the current 200 million unemployed people across the world.
The report also added that “long-standing labour market imbalances, such as high levels of labour market informality in developing countries and long-term unemployment in advanced economies, will remain acute.”
In Nigeria where unemployment is on the increase, the ILO suggested that to check the trend, countries could benefit from well-designed social protection and a boost of labour income.
The ILO report stated that “too low a level reduces the relevance of minimum wages; too high a level runs the risk of firms refusing to comply. Importantly, the report highlights the point that regular updates and the engagement of workers’ and employers’ organisations in minimum wage setting are crucial to leveraging the benefits of minimum wages and ensuring that they pave the way for decent work opportunities.”
Tagged: “Repairing the economic and social fabric”, the report recommended “Investment in key infrastructure projects, along with measures to facilitate the transition to formal employment and to expand well-crafted social protection and minimum wages that would help to further that objective.”
The report added that “Such policies would not only boost growth now, but would also consolidate the emergence of a large and growing middle-income group –which is essential for ensuring genuinely autonomous economic growth.”
Relating minimum wage to unemployment, the ILO report stated that “About half of the 151 countries for which data are available do not have a comprehensive system of minimum wages. And, in those countries where minimum wage legislation does exist, stronger action is often needed to improve compliance.”
Reacting to the report, Dr. Abel Umeh, an economist, said, the employment situation is a serious cause for concern.
On the implication on the nation’s economy, Umeh said, “It is certain that the country is not prepared for the worst. You can be sure that the government will pay scant regard to this whole report. In saner climes, such report will galvanise them to action but it is the reverse here.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Tayo Olapade, a financial analyst, noted that the ILO’s projection on unemployment should be a wake-up call to government at all levels to see how to mitigate the unemployment situation in the country ahead of the set date.
“Even without the ILO projection what we are already contending with is a huge crisis if you consider the spate of youthful unrest and terrorism threat in different parts of the country. So the government can only fail to heed the call at its own peril,” Olapade stressed.
