Half of world’s workers ‘at immediate risk of losing livelihood due to coronavirus’

1.6 billion people face economic hit from Covid-19, says UN labour agency

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Almost half the global workforce - 1.6 billion people - are in immediate danger of having their livelihoods destroyed" by the economic impact of Covid-19, the International Labour Organization has warned.

Of the total global working population of 3.3 billion, about 2 billion work in the informal economy", often on short-term contracts or self-employment, and suffered a 60% collapse in their wages in the first month of the crisis. Of these, 1.6 billion face losing their livelihoods, the ILO warned on Wednesday.