KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 17): Global employment growth will be only 1% in 2023, less than half the level in 2022.

In its World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2023 (WESO Trends) released on Monday (Jan 16), the International Labour Organization (ILO) said that global unemployment is slated to rise slightly in 2023, by around three million, to 208 million (corresponding to a global unemployment rate of 5.8%).

The agency said the current global economic slowdown is likely to force more workers to accept lower-quality, poorly paid jobs, which lack job security and social protection, thus accentuating inequalities exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis.

The report said that in addition to unemployment, “job quality remains a key concern”, adding that “decent work is fundamental to social justice”.

It said a decade of progress in poverty reduction faltered during the Covid-19 crisis .

Despite a nascent recovery during 2021, the continuing shortage of better job opportunities is likely to worsen, the study said.

The current slowdown means that many workers will have to accept lower-quality jobs, often at very low pay, sometimes with insufficient hours.

Furthermore, as prices rise faster than nominal labour incomes, the cost-of-living crisis risks pushing more people into poverty.

This trend comes on top of significant declines in income seen during the Covid-19 crisis, which in many countries affected low-income groups worst.

ILO director general Gilbert F Houngbo said the need for more decent work and social justice is clear and urgent.

“But if we are to meet these multiple challenges, we must work together to create a new global social contract,” he said.