The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has predicted a bleak year for employment in 2011, the third consecutive one marred thus, despite a the global economic recovery.

The ILO in a report says that the South Asia has the highest volume of vulnerable employment among all regions in the world, at 78.5 percent of total employment in 2009. India and China have led worldwide recovery since 2008.

The number of workers in vulnerable employment is estimated to have increased by 8.5 million in South Asia in 2009, according to the report. The other regions like Sub-Saharan Africa (75.8 per cent) and South-East Asia and the Pacific (61.8 per cent) are far below compared to the South Asia in terms of unemployment.

“Gender-based inequities in the labour market remain a primary concern, with the gap between female and male labour force participation at more than 40 percentage points and a disproportionate share of women working in the agricultural sector, many in subsistence-level activities,” the report titled ‘Global Employment Trends 2011: The Challenge of jobs recovery,’ said.

The study also pointed out that larger number of women are engaged in vulnerable employment than men, with gender-based gaps particularly large in India, Nepal and Pakistan.

The ILO has projected a global unemployment rate of 6.1 percent, equivalent to 203.3 million unemployed, through 2011.

“Global unemployment stood at 205 million in 2010, essentially unchanged from 2009, and 27.6 million more than on the eve of the global economic crisis in 2007,” said the Geneva based organisation.  

“The weak recovery in decent work reinforces a persistent inability of the world economy to secure a future for all youth. This undermines families, social cohesion and the credibility of policies,” said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia.

“Worldwide, 78 million young people were unemployed in 2010, well above the pre-crisis level of 73.5 million in 2007, but down from 80 million in 2009,” the report added.

The report pointed out, “The unemployment rate among youth aged 15-24 stood at 12.6 per cent in 2010, 2.6 times the adult rate of unemployment.”

The report suggested safety structure for employees. “The large share of workers in vulnerable employment in South Asia also confirms the need for expanded social protection measures, such as India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme,” the report added.

Read the report