A new policy brief released yesterday by United Nations states that Jobs, livelihoods and the well-being of workers, families and businesses across the globe, continue to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; with micro, small and medium enterprises, in particular, enduring the terrible economic consequences.
Addressing during the release event, UN Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres said that “The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world of work upside down. Every worker, every business and every corner of the globe has been affected. Hundreds of millions of jobs have been lost.”
The ‘World of Work and COVID-19’ report highlights that vulnerable groups are especially affected, including informal workers, young people, women, persons with disabilities, refugees and migrants.
The report exposes the pandemic’s disproportionate and destructive impact on young people, raising the likelihood of an entire so-called “lockdown generation”, which will probably emerge with fewer skills and smaller pay packets.
In addition to young women, who are at critical risk, the pandemic impact also threatens to increase inequalities, both within and between countries.
“Women have been especially hard hit – working in many of the most critically affected sectors, while also carrying the greatest burden of increasing levels of unpaid care work,” asserted the UN chief. “Young people, persons with disabilities, and so many others are facing tremendous difficulties.”
Meanwhile, high levels of informal work along with inadequate fiscal support for equal social protections, leave developing and fragile economies in the downward spiral, least able to cope.
A reset to the past is not an option, the report stated explicitly, recommending a recovery that succeeds underlying deficits in social protection, unpaid care work, labor rights protection and risks associated with new technologies.
“The world of work cannot and should not look the same after this crisis. It is time for a coordinated global, regional and national effort to create decent work for all as the foundation of a green, inclusive and resilient recovery”, emphasized the world’s top diplomat.
Against this backdrop, ‘World of Work’ offers a three-phased response, which recommends keeping businesses open and jobs available in the short-term. It contends that interventions be built on existing structures, while steering activity towards sustainable ‘green’ development.
Without compromising the health of workers or becoming less alert in the battle to restrain the virus, the second phase focuses on the medium term and promotes a structured restart of economies and a return to work.
“Protecting health does not mean keeping enterprises and economic activity locked down,” the report informs.
And the final phase reflects the long-term, pushing for the creation of decent jobs that support a green, resilient recovery and an inclusive future of work, that invests in social protections and increasing formalization of the workforce.
Pre-pandemic fears over existing challenges, such as new technologies, demographic changes, climate change and globalization, were already feeding anxiety the world over, the report clarifies. COVID-19 is heightening this unease by triggering unemployment, growing poverty, the tearing of the social fabric, together with political and economic destabilization.
“This crisis in the world of work is adding fuel to an already burning fire of discontent and anxiety,” affirmed the UN chief.
While the world cannot go backward to pre-COVID days, it can proactively define a “new, better, normal” in moving forward, the report stated.
