SE Asia labor force gradually increasing
The labor force in Southeast Asia this year has seen a slow increase since the sharp downturn brought by the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the International Labor Organization said in its newly-published report.
In its World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2023 report published on Monday, ILO is seeing a 4.7 percent increase in the region’s labor force for this year with 343.3 million people.
This exceeds both the last pre-pandemic labor force population figure of 333.5 million in 2019, the immediate post-pandemic figures of 330.2 million and 332 million for 2020 and 2021 respectively, and last year’s figures of 338.6 million.
However, the region could see a slow increase in terms of its Labor Force Participation Rate from last year’s 65.9 percent to a 0.1 percent increase each in 2023 and 2024. The latter year is seen to reach a 66.1 percent LFPR, which is still lower than the 67.2 LFPR reported in 2019.
ILO defined LFPR as “the number of persons in the labor force as a percentage of the working-age population.” This looks into the number of actively employed individuals in the workforce.
Employment in the region is expected to rise to 335 million and 339 million for 2023 and 2024, respectively, with a steady employment rate of 64.4 percent, while unemployment in 2024 could exceed to 8.9 million from 2022’s 8.7 million, despite a 0.3 percent decrease from 2022 to 2023.
ILO said that the current figures not just in Southeast Asia, but also in the whole Asia-Pacific region, could be attributed to post-pandemic developments in the East Asian region, particularly in China, citing their Covid-19 restrictions. This also extends to future forecasts if China experiences a ‘slowdown’ in its economy.
“China’s restrictive Covid-19 containment policies, despite maintaining positive economic growth throughout the pandemic, have had major implications for the subregion’s labor market and for that of the whole region,” ILO said in their report.
Despite relative downturns in labor growth, the Philippines, alongside Malaysia and Vietnam, has reported the strongest economic growth for 2022, according to the ILO.
Yet, they too have experienced a decrease in migrant deployment during the health crisis, with the Philippines logging a 332 million migrant outflow in 2020, a sharp decrease from the previous years.
ILO noted the concerns of migrant workers that contributed to the lower stock of migrant employment in countries of destination, including non-inclusive social protection and low-paying jobs.
“For many migrant workers, the lack of access to social protection or other support measures, including financial ones — most of which were available to nationals only — left little choice but to return home. Many of these workers are low paid and have low levels of savings and economic resilience to sustain themselves and their dependents through extended periods of disruption,” ILO said.