Global job quality stagnates despite resilient growth – ILO
Summary
The report also highlights the fact that women still face entrenched barriers, largely driven by social norms and stereotypes.
Global unemployment remains stable, but progress toward decent work has stalled, according to a new report from the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The report also warns that young people continue to struggle, while artificial intelligence and trade policy uncertainty risk further undermining the job market.
The report also highlights the fact that women still face entrenched barriers, largely driven by social norms and stereotypes. They account for just two fifths of global employment and are 24 per cent less likely than men to participate in the labour force.
The Employment and Social Trends 2026 report finds that while the global unemployment rate is projected to stay at 4.9 per cent in 2026 – equivalent to 186 million people – millions of workers around the world still lack access to quality jobs.
“Resilient growth and stable unemployment figures should not distract us from the deeper reality: hundreds of millions of workers remain trapped in poverty, informality, and exclusion,” ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo said.
“Young people continue to struggle,” the report says. “Youth unemployment climbed to 12.4 per cent in 2025, with around 260 million young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). In low-income countries, NEET rates are a daunting 27.9 per cent.”
Related
-
US offers grant to combat child labour in West African agriculture sector
The ILO and UNICEF currently estimate that more children are working in child labour in Africa than in the rest of the ...
-
Unpaid care work prevents 708m women from participating in labour market
The data provides a stark gender discrepancy, which highlights the disproportionate role that women take in care ...
-
Adapting to the new world of work
Social justice must continue to underpin labour practices, and
advances made by many countries in this regard must ...
Sustainable Development Section Sponsor
-
Access Bank Plc ...Financing the future
