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Geopolitical tensions, the rising costs of climate change and unresolved debt issues are putting labour markets under pressure, according to a new report from the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Around 402.4 million jobs were missing in 2024, an increase of around 2.3 million from the previous year, according to the World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2025 report. This includes people who have stopped searching for a job because of discouragement.
The job gap includes about 186 million who are unemployed, 137 million who are part of the potential labour force and around 79 million who are willing non-seekers, the findings indicated. It provides an overall indication of shortfalls in both job creation and labour market participation.
The global economy is decelerating, which is making it more challenging for labour markets to recover fully, showed the report released January 16, 2025.
In 2024, global employment grew in line with the labour force, keeping the unemployment rate steady at 5 per cent, the report noted. However, youth unemployment showed little improvement, remaining high at 12.6 per cent.
Informal employment and working poverty have reverted to pre-pandemic conditions, with low-income nations encountering the greatest challenges in generating adequate jobs.
While employment in sub-Saharan Africa is increasing more rapidly than unemployment, a majority of workers are not engaged in productive and decent jobs.
Of the 485 million in employment in sub-Saharan Africa in 2024, 86.6 per cent were informally employed and 62.6 per cent were in households living on less than $3.65 per day in purchasing power parity terms (the moderate poverty threshold).
Individuals in informal employment, particularly in agriculture and other economic sectors like wholesale and retail trade, do not have a steady income or access to social protection.
Vulnerability to climate-change-related shocks, including flooding, droughts, land degradation, soil erosion, heatwaves and unpredictable rainfall, remains a major threat to agricultural output as well as food security in sub-Saharan Africa.
More than 40 per cent of the total employment in the Caribbean is related to the tourism sector, which is highly vulnerable to climate-related shocks.
Economic growth stood at 3.2 per cent in 2024, down from 3.3 per cent and 3.6 per cent in 2023 and 2022, respectively.
High interest rates have pushed government debt to unsustainable levels, particularly in developing nations; some 70 countries are at risk of debt distress, the authors of the report pointed out.
Climate-vulnerable nations are especially exposed to debt problems and geopolitical instability is hindering international financial support, they added.
Risk to the economic outlook includes the impact on public debt, which has implications for the capacity for climate change adaptation. Public debt is already increasing as a result of loss and damage costs arising from climate change.
Public debt remains an endemic issue in Africa, where the median public debt is around 65 per cent of the gross domestic product. The cost of debt servicing alone, an estimated $165 billion in Africa in 2024, means that many countries are paying more on servicing high-interest debt than they are on health and education.
The research highlighted opportunities for job expansion in renewable energy and digital technologies. Renewable energy jobs have increased to 16.2 million globally in 2023 from 13.7 million, driven by investment in solar and hydrogen power. However, these jobs are unevenly distributed, with nearly half based in East Asia, the analysis showed.
Digital technologies also offer opportunities for job growth, but many countries lack the infrastructure and skills to fully benefit from these advancements.
ILO director-general, Gilbert F Houngbo, stressed the urgent need for action. The report provided an outline on ways to address the challenges. These include investing in skills training to boost productivity, expanding social protection and promoting the use of private funds to support local development in low-income countries.
