Labour chief warns of eight-year global 'jobs crisis'

A global "jobs crisis" caused by the economic downturn could last for up to eight years, International Labour Organisation chief Juan Somavia said Wednesday.

Somavia said at the opening of the UN labour agency's annual conference that about 300 million new jobs would be needed up to 2015 just to keep up with the natural growth in the global labour force.

"There are early and welcome signs that the downturn may be losing speed," the ILO Director General said.

But economic conditions were still fragile and most analysts were predicting a slow recovery, he added.

"All of this put together means that the world may be looking at a jobs and social protection crisis of six to eight years duration," Somavia told the conference of government, labour and employers representatives.

"Not enough attention has been paid by political leaders to the human and social implications of this lag."

Somavia has been urging world leaders to specifically target job creation alongside other measures they have taken to stimulate the economy and credit markets.

The ILO chief was promoting his Global Jobs Pact, a loose collection of voluntary job creation or support measures and minimum labour protection that countries could adopt piecemeal according to their circumstances.

The 16-day conference is due to hold a keynote "Jobs Summit" starting June 15 with Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner, her Brazilian counterpart Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Poland's Lech Kaczynski.