News

The latest news on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the world of work and the responses of governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations.

May 2020

  1. Q&A

    ILO support for employers during COVID-19 crisis

    20 May 2020

    The COVID-19 crisis has put extraordinary pressure on employers and private sector businesses, to survive and continue to provide decent work. Deborah France Massin, Director of the ILO’s Bureau for Employers’ Activities, explains how they have been helping with services and tools, and ensuring that the views of enterprise are represented to decision-makers.

  2. News

    ILO’s intervention at webinar series “Employment and Entrepreneurship for Chinese Youth”

    19 May 2020

    The covid-19 pandemic has a severe impact on global youth employment. This is also true for the 8.74 million Chinese university graduates. The ILO is providing employment and entrepreneurship advice for the Chinese youth.

  3. COVID-19: Promoting skills development

    Staying competitive during COVID-19 with digital skills

    19 May 2020

    Responding to the growing need for ICT skills caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the ILO team up with the Indonesian Retail Association (APRINDO) to provide an opportunity for business owners and laid-off workers to be more competitive with improved digital skills.

  4. COVID-19: Supporting enterprises, jobs and incomes

    Indonesian enterprises barely survive, jobs at risk

    18 May 2020

    Indonesian enterprises and jobs are impacted severely by the COVID-19 outbreak, a recent ILO enterprise survey reveals. Survival of enterprises and saving jobs are a race against time, calling for urgent actions by the government and social partners.

  5. © ILO 2023

    COVID-19 and gender equality

    COVID-19: G7 nations need to get gender equality right for a better future for women at work

    14 May 2020

    Fighting deep-rooted gender inequality must be part of countries’ responses to the crisis, says high-level meeting on the role of women in the post-COVID future.

  6. © Ploy Phutpheng / UN Women 2023

    COVID-19: Social protection coverage

    Plug social protection gaps in developing countries to prevent future crises, ILO says

    14 May 2020

    Strengthened and comprehensive social protection systems will lessen the impact of crises such as COVID-19.

  7. Media advisory

    ILO examines how lack of social protection threatens COVID-19 recovery in developing countries

    13 May 2020

  8. COVID-19

    Joining Forces: Effective Policy Solutions for COVID-19 Response

    11 May 2020

    ECOSOC Informal Briefing

  9. COVID-19: Supporting employment and incomes

    The impact of COVID-19 on the informal economy

    08 May 2020

    Almost 1.6 billion informal economy workers are significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a 60 per cent decline in their earnings. For those workers, stopping work or working remotely at home is not an option. Staying home means losing their jobs and, for many, it also means losing their livelihoods.

  10. COVID-19: Supporting enterprises, jobs and incomes

    COVID-19 and the informal economy in Africa

    07 May 2020

    The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect in Africa, particularly in the informal economy where 325 million workers make their living. Lockdown measures have significantly impacted their lives, along with the many informal enterprises that are at risk of closure.

  11. © ILO 2023

    COVID-19: Protecting workers in the workplace

    Contagion or starvation, the dilemma facing informal workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

    07 May 2020

    Lockdown measures will worsen poverty and vulnerabilities among the world’s two billion informal economy workers, says the International Labour Organization.

  12. Media advisory

    ILO evaluates impact of COVID-19 crisis on informal economy workers

    06 May 2020

  13. © Trocaire 2023

    COVID-19: Supporting enterprises, jobs and incomes

    Helping the “double casualties” of COVID-19

    04 May 2020

    The spread of COVID-19 in fragile states riven by conflict and political insecurity, is turning millions of vulnerable people into double casualties of the pandemic.

  14. Trade Union Movement

    COVID-19 and Workers’Organizations: Interview with Sharan Burrow

    04 May 2020

    What should be the key policy measures to relaunch the Global economy affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic? Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) shares her views on the needs and expectations from the trade union movement on how to address the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. Ms Burrow calls also for more solidarity and the need to strengthen Multilateralism…

  15. UN Women – ILO Joint Programme

    Promoting decent employment for women through inclusive growth policies and investments in care

    04 May 2020

    The UN Women - ILO Joint Programme aims to promote decent work for women through inclusive growth policies and investments in the care economy. The Joint Programme stands ready to support governments and social partners in implementing gender-sensitive policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis and recovery phase. In these critical times, it is a demonstration of how the United Nations as One is working towards a gender-equitable future.