MANILA – The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warns that coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) around the world could leave 80 million people unemployed in the world’s developed nations.
In a report the body released on Tuesday last week, it said “up to 10 times fewer hours were worked in some countries, compared with the first few first months of the 2008 financial crisis.”
Owing to the uncertainty of the future, OECD revealed two possible epidemiological scenarios in the next 18 months. “One of these is where the virus continues to slowdown and remains to be under control, and another when a second wave of rapid contagion erupts,” the report said.
The international body predicts that unemployment will remain high into 2021 and to reach nearly 10 percent in OECD countries by the end of 2020, up from 5.3 percent at the end of 2019. “It would go as high as 12.6 percent should a second wave occur,“ it warned.
In the Philippines, it was reported that jobless rate could hit 9 to 10 percent in the three months ended April 2020, a bit leap from 5.3 percent in the pre-Covid-19 month of January. Many economists suggest that more than 10 million Filipinos will be jobless by the end of 2020 due to the pandemic crisis. This will be about more than 10 percent of the entire 100 population of the country, which may the highest in its modern history.
The report added that in some countries, employers used job retention programs to cut hours while allowing workers to keep their pay and jobs. “It is likely that the full impact of the pandemic is yet to be felt.”
Meanwhile, it noted that other countries would have unprecedented leaps in unemployment, but many workers will return to their old jobs (or to new ones) as economies re-open and economic activity picks up. OECD suggested that countries need to act quickly and help the youth to find and to secure job placement.
