Nearly half a billion affected by insufficient paid work: ILO report

File photo: A job hunter talks with an employer during the second CUAAASC Career Development Forum and Expo in Los Angeles, the United States, April 13, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

A new International Labour Organization (ILO) report said Monday that nearly half a billion people worldwide are working fewer paid hours than they would like or lack adequate access to paid work.

The ILO global report on employment and social trends shows that a lack of decent work, combined with rising unemployment and persisting inequality, makes it increasingly difficult for people to build better lives through their work.

The report, titled "World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2020" (WESO), shows that unemployment is projected to increase by around 2.5 million in 2020.

According to the WESO, in addition to the global number of unemployed that stands at 188 million, 165 million people do not have enough paid work, and 120 million have either given up actively searching for work or otherwise lack access to the labor market.

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said at a UN news conference here that labor markets and labor activity remain the principal sources of livelihoods for most people in the world, but labor market outcomes are very unequal in the world in terms of how easy it is to find paid work, the type, and quality of that work and their remuneration.

"Persisting and substantial work-related inequalities and exclusion are preventing people from finding decent work and better futures. That's an extremely serious finding that has profound and worrying implications for social cohesion," he said.