Asian workers missing out on stellar growth

BUSAN – Asian workers are missing out on the region’s stellar growth, facing longer hours and lower pay than elsewhere and this imbalance has to be addressed, the UN Labour agency said yesterday.

International Labour Organisation (ILO) Director General Juan Somavia told a regional meeting here that the gains of such growth should be “more evenly shared” by business and workers for the sake of all. “We know by experiences that persistent inequality is socially, economically and politically destabilising,” the ILO chief said in a keynote address.”The gap between growth and job creation is producing a deficit in decent work and putting the brakes on efforts to reduce poverty.”A report submitted earlier to the meeting warned that Asia’s strong economic performance was failing to improve working conditions which were under pressure as fast growth in trade, investment and output failed to match an expanding labour force of some 1,9 billion.Last year, economies in the Asia and Pacific expanded 6,2 per cent but employment in the region grew only 1,4 per cent, it said.China, a key growth engine in Asia, grew 59 per cent during the 2000-2004 period during which available jobs increased just five per cent, it noted.Tackling unemployment is a pressing regional issue given the ILO report expects Asia to have another 250 million new job-hunters over the next 10 years.Asia is home to one billion “working poor,” people relying on less than two US dollars per day, said the ILO report, adding that 330 million live on less than one US dollar.Around 42 million people aged between 15 and 24 remain jobless in Asia, accounting for 48 per cent of the world’s young unemployed in 2005, it said.The report, prepared for 600 delegates from 40 Asia-Pacific states at the start of a four-day ILO Asian Regional Meeting, said wage growth also lags labour productivity.In China, labour output per manufacturing worker jumped 170 per cent during the 1990-1999 period while real wages rose just 80 per cent.In India, pay even dropped 22 per cent despite an 84 per cent rise in labour productivity.Gyorgy Sziraczki, chief economic and social analyst with the ILO Asia-Pacific office, insisted increased labour productivity should lead to shorter work hours and better wages in order to ensure overall sustainable growth.”The pursuit of competitiveness and growth are far less likely to produce long-term benefits if those benefits are not felt by all,” Sziraczki warned.The world’s top six economies in terms of working hours are all in Asia – Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand, the report said, adding their populations mostly work 50 hours or more a week.It said about one million workers are killed annually in Asia due to work-related accidents and diseases such as HIV-AIDS which is particularly marked in the 15-49 bracket, the most productive working age group.Nampa-AFP”We know by experiences that persistent inequality is socially, economically and politically destabilising,” the ILO chief said in a keynote address.”The gap between growth and job creation is producing a deficit in decent work and putting the brakes on efforts to reduce poverty.”A report submitted earlier to the meeting warned that Asia’s strong economic performance was failing to improve working conditions which were under pressure as fast growth in trade, investment and output failed to match an expanding labour force of some 1,9 billion.Last year, economies in the Asia and Pacific expanded 6,2 per cent but employment in the region grew only 1,4 per cent, it said.China, a key growth engine in Asia, grew 59 per cent during the 2000-2004 period during which available jobs increased just five per cent, it noted.Tackling unemployment is a pressing regional issue given the ILO report expects Asia to have another 250 million new job-hunters over the next 10 years.Asia is home to one billion “working poor,” people relying on less than two US dollars per day, said the ILO report, adding that 330 million live on less than one US dollar.Around 42 million people aged between 15 and 24 remain jobless in Asia, accounting for 48 per cent of the world’s young unemployed in 2005, it said.The report, prepared for 600 delegates from 40 Asia-Pacific states at the start of a four-day ILO Asian Regional Meeting, said wage growth also lags labour productivity.In China, labour output per manufacturing worker jumped 170 per cent during the 1990-1999 period while real wages rose just 80 per cent.In India, pay even dropped 22 per cent despite an 84 per cent rise in labour productivity.Gyorgy Sziraczki, chief economic and social analyst with the ILO Asia-Pacific office, insisted increased labour productivity should lead to shorter work hours and better wages in order to ensure overall sustainable growth.”The pursuit of competitiveness and growth are far less likely to produce long-term benefits if those benefits are not felt by all,” Sziraczki warned.The world’s top six economies in terms of working hours are all in Asia – Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand, the report said, adding their populations mostly work 50 hours or more a week.It said about one million workers are killed annually in Asia due to work-related accidents and diseases such as HIV-AIDS which is particularly marked in the 15-49 bracket, the most productive working age group.Nampa-AFP