In association with the G20 summit in London:
Senior officials from countries that will attend the London Summit along with labor market experts from global organizations such as the International Labor Organization gathered in London for an international jobs summit hosted by James Purnell, the UK's Work and Pensions Secretary.
José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Director of the Employment Sector at the International Labor Organization, said workers in both developed and developing countries would be hit hard this year. He said the jobless toll could reach 40 million in industrialized countries and as much as 200 million in poorer countries over the two years to 2010.
"In the case of developing countries there are as lot of ways in which they are being affected," he said, citing falls in exports, remittance flows, foreign direct investment, and commodity prices. "So all the engines of growth for developing countries are gone now and that is starting to impact on labor markets and unemployment among the working poor." We estimate there could be an increase in 2008 and 2009 of between 150 or even 200 million more people that backslide into extreme poverty."
He said that this "very serious impact" required a three-pillar response from world leaders at the London Summit on 2 April: the financial pillar to restore credit; the fiscal stimulus pillar; but also a labor market pillar "to cushion the impacts and mitigate the effects to lay the foundations for more employment and growth in the future."
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