“Creation of decent jobs and redressing inequalities are two challenges we are likely to face in the years to come”

ASTANA (ILO News) – Today, almost a decade after the first signs of crisis appeared, we note that the global economy has not yet recovered. Economic growth remains at levels significantly below those of the pre-crisis years, and is too slow to be able to close the employment and social gaps that have emerged, said ILO Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Heinz Koller at the VIII Astana Economic Forum.

The Astana Economic Forum is one of the largest international forums in the world. Held annually since 2008, AEF brings together world leaders, academic experts and high-level business representatives to find solutions to the greatest economic and social challenges of our time. VIII AEF has brought together about 3000 representatives of political, economic and business circles coming from more than 80 countries.

Heinz Koller referred to the most recent ILO analysis – the World Employment and Social Outlook 2015 (WESO) report. It shows that the unemployment crisis prevails, not only in developing countries, but on a global scale. In 2014, more than 201 million people were unemployed in the world. That is over 31 million more than before the outbreak of the crisis. During this year (2015), yet another 3 million people are estimated to enter into unemployment, as are another 8 million people in the following four years. The global employment gap, measuring the number of jobs lost since the start of the crisis, is even widening. Today, it stands at 61 million.

The situation of young people remains the issue of particular concern. The youth unemployment rate reached 13 per cent in 2014. This is almost three times higher than the unemployment rate for adults. According to the new ILO report on the transition from school to work of young people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, stagnation in job creation in the region results in missed opportunities to absorb young people in the labour market, despite the strong education results observed here. The potential of today’s young people in these countries is not fully unleashed.

Heinz Koller praised the “encouraging” experience of Kazakhstan in addressing youth employment issues. “I know that there has been significant job creation during the last decade, which has reduced unemployment rates by half. Even more remarkably the youth unemployment rate has been pushed down from around 20 per cent to below 4 per cent. This means that Kazakhstan is one of the very few countries in the world where youth unemployment is actually below overall unemployment. This looks promising for the future of the country,” he said.

The second major global challenge is the growing inequalities. “Today, in the aftermath of the crisis, inequalities have been cemented in regions where they were already high, and are rapidly increasing in regions where they were previously less pronounced,” said Koller. The ILO estimates that on a global average the richest 10 per cent earn around one third of total income, whereas the poorest 10 per cent earn around 2 per cent of total income.

Speaking about the way forward, Heinz Koller stressed the need to increase the employment intensity of growth. This requires policies that increase the demand for labour while at the same time increasing the employability of those who are unemployed or about to enter the labour market.

However, any policy-making aimed at expansions in employment or labour productivity alone is likely to be unsustainable if it does not address quality of employment, social protection and income security of workers. “In other words, productive and decent employment cannot be achieved and sustained through fragmented and isolated interventions. Rather, long-term, determined and concerted action spanning a wide range of policies and programmes is required,” Koller said.

The crucial mechanism through which these changes can be generated is true social dialogue between governments, workers and employers. “This and only this allows for balanced and fair discussions, paving the way for sustainable solutions and stability, “ he concluded.