5 challenges for employment in developing countries

Poor working conditions are the main global employment challenge, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). So much so that the UN has made “decent work for everyone” one of its priorities for the next decade, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG No. 8). “Having a job does not always guarantee decent living conditions,” explains Damian Grimshaw, Director of Research at the ILO. “As proof, 700 million people live in extreme or moderate poverty even though they have a job.”

The scope of the problem is particularly demonstrated in the statistic that 61% of workers worldwide (i.e. 2 billion people) currently hold an informal job, meaning one not governed by the rules that dictate the rights of employers and employees. This results in a number of problems, including lack of social protection, extended hours, the ability to be fired without notice or severance pay, and dangerous working conditions, amongst others.

Worldwide, more than one in five young people (under the age of 25) are without an occupation, meaning that they are unemployed, with no training and not in school. In parallel, 145 million young workers live in poverty. This is a situation that is not expected to improve anytime soon, according to the ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook - Trends 2019, which forecasts that the decline in the youth labor force participation rate over the past 25 years will likely continue.

This is particularly alarming because youth unemployment is a vicious cycle: those who remain excluded from the job market for a long time fail to acquire the skills that future employers will be looking for. There is, therefore, an urgent need to recognize youth employment as a priority for both public policy and the private sector to offer young people more and better employment opportunities. 

This is the goal of the global Decent Jobs for Youth initiative. Sponsored by the UN, it aims to accelerate partnerships for action in this area, in part by disseminating the necessary information (studies, expert recommendations, innovations, etc.) to key players.

The wage gap between men and women is one of today’s greatest social injustices. On average, a woman with the same skills and responsibilities earns 20% less than a man, according to the ILO.

This is compounded by another inequality: women are much more likely than men to be involuntary part-time workers, although many of them would prefer to work more hours. In combination with persistent stereotypes, these injustices result in much lower labor force participation rates among women (48%) than men (75%). “After a period of rapid improvement that lasted up until 2003, progress toward reducing inequalities in [labor force] participation between men and women has slowed,” states the ILO. 

Climate change and the decline in biodiversity will affect millions of workers worldwide, particularly farmers whose crops are vulnerable to extreme weather events (intense precipitation, drought, etc.) or dependent on insect pollinators. The transition toward more environmentally respectful societies, will meanwhile destroy 6 million jobs globally, many in fossil fuels, according to ILO estimates.

“If we close coal mines, we leave people unemployed, which not only requires planning how to support those workers through professional retraining program but also anticipating green job opportunities in sectors of the low-carbon economy via appropriate measures for skill development and support for entrepreneurship. The ecological transition will benefit workers only if we anticipate these situations,” insists Gratadour. “In Africa, for example, we are working with electrical companies on the human resources implications, particularly in terms of training, of a transition to greener modes of production.”

The figure is overwhelming: 152 million children worldwide are still forced to work. Of these, 73 million are assigned to dangerous tasks. While these figures are decreasing, “the pace is too slow to reach the goal of ending all forms of child labor by 2025,” warns the International Labor Organization.

The majority of child labor results from a combination of a poor standard of living for the families and social norms that tolerate it, as well as a lack of decent jobs for adults and adolescents, migration, crisis situations, and discrimination against indigenous populations and lower castes, according to UNICEF.