The positive trend in the number of hours worked around the world has stalled and is now at risk of going into reverse, the International Labour Organization (ILO) announced in Geneva on Monday.
The UN body attributed the decline in hours worked in the first quarter largely to recent the recent pandemic containment measures in China. The figure remains 3.8% below that recorded in the last quarter of 2019, used by the ILO as its pre-crisis benchmark.
Estimates for the first quarter of 2022 presented "a marked deterioration" compared to the projections made in January of 2.4% below the pre-crisis level, it said.
Apart from the restrictions imposed in China, the ILO report highlighted the effects of the war in Ukraine, which it said had "hit the global economy by increasing inflation, especially in food and energy prices, and disrupting global supply chains."
It pointed to heightened financial turbulence and monetary policy tightening as likely to have a broader impact on labour markets around the world in the months to come.
"There is a growing but uncertain risk of a further deterioration in hours worked over 2022," it predicted.
