The outlook for the labour market has worsened significantly since the last ILO Monitor was issued.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has released the latest projections of the impact that the COVID-19 outbreak is having on workers and businesses worldwide.
The revised estimate of global working time lost in the second quarter (Q2) of this year (when compared to Q4 2019) is for 17.3 per cent, equivalent to 495 million full-time equivalents (FTE) jobs (based on a 48-hour working week), whereas the earlier estimate was for 14 per cent or 400 million FTE jobs. In Q3 of 2020, global working-hour losses of 12.1 per cent (345 million FTE jobs) are expected.

One reason for the estimated increases in working-hour losses is that workers in developing and emerging economies, especially those in informal employment, have been much more affected than by past crises, the Monitor noted.
It also noted that the drop in working-hour losses is more attributable to inactivity than to unemployment, with important policy implications.

The ILO Monitor gives updated projections for the number of working hours lost globally as a result of the labour market disruption caused by COVID-19.