Diverging employment levels by
gender, age and education levelWomen experienced greater employment loss than men during the pandemic (^8) , and according to
the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2022 (^9) , gender parity in the labour force
stands at 62.9% – the lowest level registered since the index was first compiled. The global pandemic
also disproportionately impacted young workers,
with less than half of the global youth employment deficit projected to have recovered by the end
of 2022.employment deficit relative to 2019 is largest in^10 As highlighted in Figure 1.3, the youth
Southern Asia, Latin America, Northern Africa and Eastern Europe, with only Europe and North
America likely to have fully recovered at the time of publication.
Workers with a basic education were also hardest hit in 2020, and slower to recover their prior
Change (%)
ChangePositiveNegative
2020 2021 2022
Eastern Asia
052020 2021 2022South-Eastern Asia and the Pacific2020 2021 2022Southern Asia2020 2021 2022Central and Western Asia2020 2021 2022Arab States2020 2021 2022Eastern Europe2020 2021 2022and Western EuropeNorthern, Southern2020 2021 2022Northern Africa2020 2021 2022Sub-Saharan Africa2020 2021 2022Northern America2020 2021 2022Latin America and the Caribbean050505FIGURE 1.3 Youth employment deficit relative to 2019, by sub-region
Source
Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022: Investing in transforming futures for young people, ILO calculations based
on ILOSTAT, ILO modelled estimates, November 2021.
Note
The employment deficit shows the difference in employment in each year due to the EPR being below the 2019 level. Data are estimates up to 2021, and projections for 2022. "Youth" refers to
ages 15-24.Future of Jobs Report 2023 12