The report has calculated that the Coronavirus pandemic is affecting 81% of the world’s workforce or about 2.7 billion people out of a total of 3.3 billion.  

The lockdown imposed in the various parts of the world to control the spread of COVID-19 would bring a major set back to the global economy. 

The UN’s labour body in its report has also claimed that this pandemic has brought the worst phase of joblessness since World War II. 

This is certainly not good news for a growing economy like India where 90% of our workforce is employed in the unorganized sector and does not have the luxury of paid leaves or health benefits.  

To understand the problem better, the ILO has devised a method of studying changes in working hours, which reflect layoffs and other temporary reductions in working time. This gives a clearer account of what’s happening in the labour market. 

The UN’s labour body estimates that working hours in the latter half of 2020 to decline by 6.7%, which is equivalent to 195 million full-time workers. 

The UN’s labour body also has a message to India, “In India, with a share of almost 90% of people working in the informal economy, about 400 million workers are at risk of falling deeper into poverty during the crisis.”  

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the entire world but it is hitting the developing world, like India even harder. 

What is essentially important know is for the government to provide post-lockdown economic assistance and revival schemes to sail the country through these times.