新冠疫情致2020年全球勞動力市場遭重創

聯合國國際勞工組織最新發布的報告顯示，在2020年新冠疫情引發全球危機後，全球勞動力市場遭受了巨大影響，損失了相當於2.25億個全職工作崗位。目前勞動力市場正在實現初步復甦，但前景依舊高度不確定。

The pandemic caused an "uNPRecedented" hit to the global economy last year, destroying the equivalent of 225 million full-time jobs, the United Nations has said.

聯合國相關機構發佈報告稱，去年的新冠疫情對全球經濟造成了“前所未有”的打擊，全球損失了相當於2.25億個全職工作崗位。

The crisis caused an 8.8% drop in working hours - four times more than followed the 2008 financial crisis.

新冠疫情導致全球工作時間減少了8.8%，是2008年金融危機造成損失的四倍多。

The UN said looking at job cuts alone "drastically" understated the damage.

聯合國相關機構表示，僅考慮裁員會“大幅”低估損失。

understate：低估，輕描淡寫(vt.)

It also warned that recovery remains uncertain, despite hope that vaccines will spur an economic rebound.

該機構還警告說，儘管疫苗有望刺激經濟反彈，但全球經濟復甦仍充滿不確定性。

Working hours in 2021 are likely to remain more than 3% lower than they were in 2019 - roughly the equivalent of 90 million full-time jobs, predicts the report, by the UN's International Labor Organization (ILO).

這份由聯合國國際勞工組織發佈的報告預測，2021年的工作時間可能仍將比2019年減少3%以上，大約相當於9000萬個全職工作崗位。

But it cautioned that the downturn could be worse, if vaccine distribution is slow and global governments do not provide the economic stimulus expected.

但報告警告說，如果疫苗分發緩慢，而且全球各國政府沒有提供預期的經濟刺激，工作時間的減少幅度可能更大。

"The signs of recovery we see are encouraging, but they are fragile and highly uncertain, and we must remember that no country or group can recover alone," said ILO's director-general Guy Ryder.

國際勞工組織總幹事蓋伊•賴德說：“我們看到的復甦跡象令人鼓舞，但它們很脆弱，且非常不確定。我們必須記住，沒有任何國家或團體能夠單獨復甦。”

自1930年代以來最嚴重的危機

Less than 3% of the world's workers are living in places with economy-wide shutdowns, compared to a peak of more than 40% last April, the ILO said.

國際勞工組織說，全球只有不到3%的員工生活在經濟大規模封鎖的地方，而去年4月這一比例曾高達40%以上。

Still, the damage in 2020 was even worse than the ILO predicted last spring, when it estimated that four in five people's jobs had been affected by full or partial closures and predicted a 6.8% fall in working hours.

儘管如此，2020年新冠疫情對全球勞動力市場的破壞程度甚至比國際勞工組織去年春天預測的還要嚴重，當時該機構預測稱，五分之四的工作崗位因全部或部分封鎖而受到影響，並預測全球工作時間下降6.8%。

"This has been the most severe crisis for the world of work since the Great Depression of the 1930s," Mr Ryder told reporters in a virtual briefing.

“這是上世紀30年代大蕭條以來全球勞動力市場面臨的最嚴重危機”，賴德在一場視頻新聞發佈會上告訴記者。

The ILO said roughly half of the hours lost were due to firms cutting back on work.

國際勞工組織表示，大約一半的工時損失是由於公司減少工作量。

Employment also dropped by 114 million compared to 2019, as about 33 million people lost jobs, while the rest became "inactive" - either giving up work or looking for a job.

與2019年相比，就業人數也減少了1.14億，約3300萬人失去了工作，而其餘的人變得“不活躍”，要麼辭職，要麼正在找工作。

Overall, participation in the labour force dropped by 2.2 percentage points last year, compared to just a 0.2 percentage point drop between 2008 and 2009, the ILO said.

國際勞工組織表示，總體而言，去年勞動力參與率下降了2.2個百分點，而2008年至2009年僅下降了0.2個百分點。

Without government support schemes, the declines amount to a loss of $3.7tn in income globally - about 4.4% of overall economic output - which Mr Ryder described as "extraordinary".

如果沒有政府的支持計劃，這種下降相當於全球收入損失3.7萬億美元，約佔全球經濟產出的4.4%，賴德稱這是“非同尋常的”。

Regions such as Latin America, the Caribbean, southern Europe and southern Asia were particularly affected. The losses also disproportionately fell on women and young people.

從地區看，拉丁美洲、加勒比、南歐和南亞等區域受到的影響尤其嚴重。從人羣看，婦女和年輕人遭受的損失更大。

The agency said the rebound in the second half of 2020 appears to have been stronger than expected. But it is likely to remain uneven, "threatening to increase inequality within and between countries".

該機構表示，2020年下半年的反彈似乎強於預期，但可能會繼續保持不平衡，“或將加劇國家內部和國家之間的不平等”。