GENEVA—Some 8.8 percent of global working hours were lost last year due to the pandemic, roughly four times the number lost in the 2009 financial crisis, but there are “tentative signs” of recovery, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Jan. 25.
The losses compared with the previous year were equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs and included an “unprecedented” 114 million workers joining the ranks of the unemployed, and others whose working hours were reduced due to restrictions, the U.N. agency said.
