A recent article on Economist noted as a
bleak picture that “today’s workers, if they are lucky enough to escape the gig
economy and have a real job, have lost control over their lives. They are
underpaid and exploited by unscrupulous bosses. And they face a precarious
future, as machines threaten to make them unemployable.”.
Instead of this, they argue that “most of
the rich world is enjoying a jobs boom of unprecedented scope”, and that “capitalism
is improving workers’ lot faster than it has in years, as tight labor markets
enhance their bargaining power.”. Also, the article stated that capitalism and
jobs boom deserve a little appreciation.
However, they referred only to unemployment rates (OECD is about 5%-7%), rather than other significant real-life issues. Harmonized unemployment rate defines the unemployed as people of working age who are without work, are available for work, and have taken specific steps to find work. But, what about long-term unemployment rate, employment rate, part-time employment rate, temporary employment, and in general the total hours worked and paid?
Long-term unemployment refers to people who
have been unemployed for 12 months or more. The long-term unemployment rate
shows the proportion of these long-term unemployed among all unemployed. OECD
(Total 2017): A dramatic 31% of unemployed.
Employment rates are defined as a measure of
the extent to which available labor resources (people available to work) are
being used. They are calculated as the ratio of the employed to the working age
population. OECD (Total Q4 2018): 68.6% of working age population.
Part-time employment is defined as people in
employment (whether employees or self-employed) who usually work less than 30
hours per week in their main job. OECD (Total 2017): A huge 16.5% of
employment.
Temporary employment includes wage and
salary workers whose job has a pre-determined termination date. OECD (Total
2017): 11.2% of dependent employment.
Average annual hours worked is defined as
the total number of hours worked per year divided by the average number of people
in employment per year. Actual hours worked include regular work hours of
full-time, part-time and part-year workers, paid and unpaid overtime, hours
worked in additional jobs, and exclude time not worked because of public
holidays, annual paid leave, own illness, injury and temporary disability,
maternity leave, parental leave, schooling or training, slack work for
technical or economic reasons, strike or labor dispute, bad weather,
compensation leave and other reasons. The data cover employees and self-employed
workers. This indicator is measured in terms of hours per worker per year. OECD
(Total 2017): 1,746 hours per worker.
Finally, wages are far from their great
level, as the above temporary and low paid formats in job environment do not
offer opportunities for many people. Also note that OECD (Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development) countries are ageing. Demographic change
transforms the economic cycle, while technological adoption is again an
unexpected negative factor for many sectors.
1 comments:
In 2018, the share of people aged 20-64 who worked part-time in the European Union (EU) stood at 19%. In 2005, the share was 17% and it has been rising gradually since then, reaching 18% in 2010 and 19% in 2012. Among the EU Member States, the Netherlands has the highest proportion of part-time employment in this age group (47%), followed by Austria (28%) and Germany (27%).
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