Asian workers missing out on stellar growth
Asian workers are missing out on the region's stellar growth, facing longer hours and lower pay than elsewhere and this imbalance has to be addressed, the UN Labour agency said on Tuesday.
By PTI |
BUSAN (SOUTH KOREA): Asian workers are missing out on the region's stellar growth, facing longer hours and lower pay than elsewhere and this imbalance has to be addressed, the UN Labour agency said on Tuesday.
International Labour Organization (ILO) Director General Juan Somavia told a regional meeting here that the gains of such growth should be "more evenly shared" by business and workers for the sake of all.
"We know by experiences that persistent inequality is socially, economically and politically destabilising," the ILO chief said in a keynote address.
"The gap between growth and job-creation is producing a deficit in decent work and putting the brakes on efforts to reduce poverty."
A report submitted earlier to the meeting warned that Asia's strong economic performance was failing to improve working conditions which were under pressure as fast growth in trade, investment and output failed to match an expanding labour force of some 1.9 billion.
Last year, economies in the Asia and Pacific expanded 6.2 per cent but employment in the region grew only 1.4 per cent, it said. China, a key growth engine in Asia, grew 59 per cent during the 2000-2004 period during which available jobs increased just five per cent, it noted.
Tackling unemployment is a pressing regional issue given the ILO report expects Asia to have another 250 million new job-hunters over the next 10 years.
Asia is home to one billion "working poor," people relying on less than two dollars per day, said the ILO report, adding that 330 million live on less than one dollar.
International Labour Organization (ILO) Director General Juan Somavia told a regional meeting here that the gains of such growth should be "more evenly shared" by business and workers for the sake of all.
"We know by experiences that persistent inequality is socially, economically and politically destabilising," the ILO chief said in a keynote address.
"The gap between growth and job-creation is producing a deficit in decent work and putting the brakes on efforts to reduce poverty."
A report submitted earlier to the meeting warned that Asia's strong economic performance was failing to improve working conditions which were under pressure as fast growth in trade, investment and output failed to match an expanding labour force of some 1.9 billion.
Last year, economies in the Asia and Pacific expanded 6.2 per cent but employment in the region grew only 1.4 per cent, it said. China, a key growth engine in Asia, grew 59 per cent during the 2000-2004 period during which available jobs increased just five per cent, it noted.
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Tackling unemployment is a pressing regional issue given the ILO report expects Asia to have another 250 million new job-hunters over the next 10 years.
Asia is home to one billion "working poor," people relying on less than two dollars per day, said the ILO report, adding that 330 million live on less than one dollar.
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