The world’s labor market will collapse due to the war in Ukraine.

Global employment growth will slow sharply to 1% this year, compared to 2% in 2022, due to the economic consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine, leading to high inflation and tightening monetary policy, according to the International Labor Organization. In addition, the number of unemployed workers worldwide will increase by 3 million to 208 million in 2023, and the growth of real wages will be absorbed by inflation. All this means that the labor market’s losses suffered during the COVID-19 crisis will not be recouped until 2025, says Richard Samans, director of the ILO’s Research Department. It is also predicted that progress in reducing the number of unofficial jobs will reverse in the coming years. As prices rise faster than nominal labor incomes, the cost-of-living crisis risks pushing more people into poverty, the ILO study said.