Staff Correspondent: Tuomo Poutiainen, the outgoing Country Director for the International Labour Organization (ILO), urged Bangladesh to move forward with its skills development reform to adequately equip its labour force for more specialized, better paying jobs both in the country and abroad.

“The global contraction of jobs is of a grave concern, especially for Bangladesh which is undergoing political, economic, social and climatic transitions and sends over a million workers to work abroad. The WESO report underscores the need for Bangladesh not to lose sight of the urgency for creating decent work opportunities, particularly for women and youth. More jobs are anticipated in high skilled occupations, such as for digital jobs,” he said.

The outgoing country representative said this at a press statement issued here today for ILO’s new World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO) update.

The ILO’s latest employment estimates are based on economic growth projections from the recently released International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) April 2025 World Economic Outlook.

At its outlook, the ILO has revised its global employment forecast for 2025, projecting the creation of 53 million jobs instead of the previously estimated 60 million. This translates into a reduction in global employment growth from 1.7 per cent to 1.5 per cent this year.

The drop – which is the equivalent of around seven million fewer additional jobs – reflects a downgraded global economic outlook, as GDP growth is expected at 2.8 per cent, down from a previous projection of 3.2 per cent.

In addition, the ILO estimates that close to 84 million jobs across 71 countries are directly or indirectly tied to U.S. consumer demand. These jobs – and the incomes they support – are now increasingly at risk of disruption due to elevated trade tensions. The Asia-Pacific region is where most of these jobs – 56 million – are concentrated. Canada and Mexico, however, have the highest share of jobs – 17.1 per cent – that are exposed.

ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo said, “We know that the global economy is growing at a slower pace than we had anticipated it would. Our report now tells us that if geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions continue, and if we do not address fundamental questions that are reshaping the world of work, then they will most certainly have negative ripple effects on labour markets worldwide.”

“We can make a difference, and we can do so by strengthening social protection, investing in skills development, promoting social dialogue, and building inclusive labour markets to ensure that technological change benefits all,” he added.

The report has also highlighted troubling trends in income distribution. The labour income share – which is the proportion of GDP going to workers – fell globally from 53.0 per cent in 2014 to 52.4 per cent in 2024. Africa and the Americas experienced the largest declines. Had this share remained unchanged, labour income globally would have been US$1 trillion higher in 2024, or US$290 more per worker in constant purchasing power terms. This erosion in the share of global income going to workers puts upward pressure on inequality and highlights a disconnect between economic growth and worker compensation.

The report points to a shift in employment towards high-skilled jobs. Women are leading this trend. Between 2013 and 2023, the share of women employed in high-skilled occupations rose from 21.2 to 23.2 per cent – while the proportion of men in high-skilled occupations was around 18 per cent in 2023. Yet occupational segregation persists, with women underrepresented in sectors such as construction and overrepresented in clerical and caregiving roles.

The report has also addressed the effects of new technologies on the world of work. It finds that nearly one in four workers may find their jobs transformed by generative AI. A larger share of jobs in medium-skilled occupations have some degree of exposure, but a greater percentage of jobs in high-skilled occupations have high exposure, whereby existing tasks could potentially be automated by AI.

“The findings of this report on the employment landscape are sobering, but they can also act as a roadmap for the creation of decent jobs. We can make a difference, and we can do so by strengthening social protection, investing in skills development, promoting social dialogue, and building inclusive labour markets to ensure that technological change benefits all. And we must do so with urgency, ambition, and solidarity,” explained the Director-General.