ILO CLAIMS PANDEMIC DESTROYING YOUTH LABOR MARKET

Lost working hours in the first half of 2020 continue to reflect a severe impact on employment and about one in six young people have stopped working since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said on Friday, May 29, 2020, TeleSUR reported.

According to ILO's latest analysis of the labor market impact of the pandemic, those who remain employed have seen their working hours cut by 23 percent.

"The COVID-19 economic crisis is hitting young people – especially women – harder and faster than any other group. If we do not take significant and immediate action to improve their situation, the legacy of the virus could be with us for decades," ILO Director-General Guy Ryder warned. "If their talent and energy are side-lined by a lack of opportunity or skills, it will damage all our futures and make it much more difficult to re-build a better, post-COVID economy."

As stated in ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work, 4th edition, the pandemic is not only messing up with youth works, but it also leads to low rates of education and training, an aspect that makes young people options to enter the labor market drops down. "Creating an employment-rich recovery that also promotes equity and sustainability means getting people and enterprises working again as soon as possible, in safe conditions," Ryder said. #COVID19