The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has stated that an estimated $1.2 trillion has been lost in annual wages due to the 61 million jobs gap that opened up since the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009.
An ILO expert Steven Kapsos, who on Tuesday said that the Global wage gap puts the brakes on the global economy, described how the vicious circle of weak employment growth, slow consumer spending and business investment, had led to sluggish overall economic growth.
He said: “$1.2 trillion dollars is our estimate of the annual wages lost around the world due to the global jobs gap that has opened up since the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009. We have 30 million more unemployed people around the world today than we had before the crisis. If we add this to the discouraged workers that have dropped out of the labour market altogether, we estimate a global jobs gap of 61 million.
“Importantly, we estimate that closing this global jobs gap would add $3.7 trillion dollars to the global economy – a 3.6 per cent boost to global output – as increased wages would lead to more global consumption, and increased profits and investment levels.”
In a related development, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC) has called on Africa leaders to initiate policies that would fill the wage gap as well as create job opportunities for the unemployed youths in the Continent
CISLAC’s Executive Director, Mr. Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, made the call during the launching of ‘My African Union My Future Campaign; ‘Be the Voice for Africa’ in Abuja.
He argued that the current global wage gap is a key indication of a vicious circle of slow economic growth and weak employment growth.
He said the official launch of the campaign on Thursday in Abuja has added Nigeria to eight other countries, including Tunisia, Mozambique, Kenya, South Africa, Senegal, Malawi, Ghana and Cameroon, which had earlier launched the campaign.
“We call on Africa leaders to ensure the formulations of policies that will take the current job gap into account by recognising that expanding employment just by itself, without considering the quality of employment, without considering workers’ income security and their social protection in the Continent, is unlikely to provide meaningful and sustainable support to continent aggregate demand,” he said.
On the slow growth path in Africa economic recovery, Rafsanjani said there is need for urgent action to be taken by Africa leaders as the advanced economies are currently struggling with slow growth and high unemployment rates, pro-employment policies.
“And so to break the vicious circle of weak economic growth and weak labour markets in the Continent, policies should focus on spurring a recovery in employment that would in turn boost job creation opportunities for the unemployed”, he said.
Source : Independent