Work- Less Secure

END WAGE SLAVERY

Most of the world's workers have insecure jobs, the International Labour Organization (ILO) says.  Only a quarter of workers are on permanent contracts. The remaining three quarters are employed on temporary or short-term contracts, working informally often without any contract, are self-employed or are in unpaid family jobs. The agency highlighted a rise in part-time employment, especially among young women. Much of the increase in part-time employment has been involuntary,” the report said.

“The shift we’re seeing from the traditional employment relationship to more non-standard forms of employment is in many cases associated with the rise in inequality and poverty rates in many countries,” said ILO director-general Guy Ryder.

The report found that the number of people on wage and salaried work – as opposed to forms of work such as self-employment or without contracts – was growing worldwide but less than half, or 42%, of those were on a permanent contract. Workers on wages or salaries still accounted for only half of global employment. There were signs of declining employment security in high-income countries since the financial crisis, Torres said, flagging up the rise of self-employment, of workers without contracts and those who were involuntarily working part-time.

“The remuneration of people on these types of contract tends to be less,” added he report’s main author, Raymond Torres, director of the ILO research department. “The income gap between permanent and non-permanent workers has increased over the past decade,” it said. Globally only 16% of the self-employed were part of a pension scheme, compared with 52% of employees.