Is an International Jobs Crisis on the Horizon?

You like your job (or maybe you don't), but you're looking for a change. So you scour the web for new employment opportunities, update your cover letter, and send out resumes. And nothing happens. You notice the same job listings day after day, with no new additions. And those applications you sent out never get a response. If the job market has seemed a little tight lately, that's not just your paranoia talking. A global job crisis may be looming and the repercussions to the international economy could be disastrous.

According to a report by the World Bank, an estimated 600 million jobs would need to be created worldwide by 2030 just to cope with the rapidly expanding population. Barring that, a serve economic downturn affecting all major countries could be close at hand. Interestingly enough, it's the countries with emerging market economies that are faring the best in terms of job creation. Meanwhile major economic powers have been seriously slacking in wage equality and job development, which is only adding to the increasingly dire situation.

"As this report makes clear, there's a shortage of jobs — and quality jobs," World Bank's senior director for jobs Nigel Twose said at the G20 Labour and Employment Ministerial Meeting in Australia, where the report was presented. "And equally disturbingly, we're also seeing a wage and income inequality widening within many G20 countries, although progress has been made in a few emerging economies, like Brazil and South Africa."

According to the report, more than 100 million people are unemployed in the major economies, and over 447 million more qualify as "working poor," those who are struggling to survive on a mere $2 a day. And despite a brief economic improvement over the past year, it looks like the amount of jobs created simply aren't enough to deal with the demand for jobs.

Even those already employed aren't safe from the repercussions of this job crisis. Wages across many major countries have stalled, not rising even as the cost of living increases. In some places, the average income is actually dropping slightly. These disturbing trends aren't expected to improve in the coming years.

"There is no magic bullet to solve this jobs crisis, in emerging markets or advanced economies," Twose said at the meeting. "We do know we need to create an extra 600 million jobs worldwide by the year 2030 just to cope with the expanding population. That requires not just the leadership of ministries of labour but their active collaboration with all other ministries — a whole government approach cutting across different ministries, and of course the direct and sustained involvement of the private sector."

Some governments have taken these ominous words to heart, and are working on growth strategies and development action plans to improve the job market. Unfortunately, there's been less success in a coordinated international plan to deal with this issue. And since a lot of countries don't have such a great history of working together, it's doubtful that any sort of coalition will arise any time soon.

So keep sending out those resumes, and cheer up! Things may be tough now, but it looks like they could end up being a whole lot worse.

[Pic via Flickr - Flazingo Pictures/https://www.flazingo.com]