Pandemic wipes out $3.5T in wages -UN group

Global workers have lost $3.5 trillion in wages during the first nine months of 2020, according to an estimate released Wednesday by the United Nation’s International Labour Organization.

Lost wages due to stay-at-home orders and job losses have had a catastrophic impact on workers around the globe, especially in low-wage countries, says the group’s Director General Guy Ryder.

"We estimate in this monitor once we exclude the impact of government support measures, that global labour income, declined by an extraordinary and massive 10.7 per cent in the first nine month of 2020. That translates into a loss of 3.5 trillion US dollars, an equivalent of 5.5 per cent of the global GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in the period concerned."

According to the report, by the end of this year, working hours lost are estimated to be equal to the disappearance of more than 1 billion jobs, with the decline in employment generally greater for women and workers in the world’s developing and emerging economies.