Sustain

The efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 are taking a major toll on the global economy, forcing businesses to shut down and cut jobs, reducing workers’ ability to go to work, and placing an extra burden of care on parents whose children are unable to go to school or daycare.

The ILO predicts a significant rise in unemployment and underemployment in the wake of the virus. SMEs and industries that rely on face-to-face interactions, such as hospitality, services or transportation, are the most likely to suffer a loss of customers, income, and jobs, including for youth.

Self-employed people will also be negatively hit because of restrictions on the movement of people and goods.

To respond to this rapidly evolving situation, we added a fourth outcome: to sustain existing jobs for youth. This may result providing support to businesses to remain solvent or adapt their strategies – for example, changing their service offering or allowing employees to work from home.