Survival: Job Seekers Forced To Accept Poor Working Conditions

The unemployment situation has so worsened that job seekers are now forced to accept poor work conditions just to survive.

In Nigeria, the unemployment rate stood at 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2024, representing a third consecutive increase since the second quarter of 2023.

Urban dwellers face the crunch much more than people in the rural areas, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show.

Alongside, Nigeria’s misery index – the sum of unemployment and inflation rates – rose to 36.9 percent in 2024Q1 from 30.5 percent in 2023Q3.

Nigeria has one of the world’s highest misery indexes, with many Nigerians experiencing a cost of living crisis and weak purchasing power due to rising inflation.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has expressed the concern too, that progress in reducing unemployment globally is not being matched by improvements in the quality of work.

“Poor quality employment is the main issue for global labour markets, with millions of people forced to accept inadequate working conditions”, it said in a report.

Data from its World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2019 (WESO) show that a majority of the 3.3 billion people employed globally in 2018 had inadequate economic security, material well-being and equality of opportunity.

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It also added that progress in reducing unemployment globally is not being reflected in improvements in the quality of work.

ILO is thus warning that current rate of progress, more hurdled lie before millions of job seekers, even as attaining the goal of decent work for all, as set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 8, seems unrealistic for many countries.

Deborah Greenfield, ILO Deputy Director-General for Policy

According to ILO Deputy Director-General for Policy, Deborah Greenfield , “SDG 8 is not just about full employment but the quality of that employment.

“Equality and decent work are two of the pillars underpinning sustainable development.”

Governments rapidly embracing technology in the work place, is like worsening the lot of job seekers; in fact, the report cautions that some new business models, including those enabled by new technologies, threaten to undermine existing labour market achievements.

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Areas more vulnerable to this effect, according to the organisation, include efforts at improving employment formality and security, social protection and labour standards.

“Being in employment does not always guarantee a decent living,” said Damian Grimshaw, ILO Director of Research. “For instance, a full 700 million people are living in extreme or moderate poverty despite having employment.”

The gender dimension

The gender dimension paints even a grimmer picture, as only 48 per cent of women are in the labour force, compared to 75 per cent of men.

Another issue is the persistence of informal employment, with a staggering 2 billion workers – 61 per cent of the world’s workforce – categorised as such. Also of concern is that more than one in five young people (under 25) are not in employment, education or training, compromising their future employment prospects.