NEW YORK: The increasing number of people forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to work from home has generated a lot of attention on both the benefits and trials of working remotely.
The UN’s International Labor Organization (ILO) has seized on this new awareness to highlight the predicament of what it estimates to be 260 million home-based workers worldwide 8 percent of global employment who had for decades prior to the pandemic been working under precarious conditions.
Homeworkers are a heterogeneous group. They include highly skilled teleworkers who work remotely on a continual basis, and a vast number of impoverished industrial workers who are required to produce goods that cannot be automated, such as artisanal goods like embroidery and handicrafts.
People working from home need better protection: ILO
Working from home is often poorly regulated and compliance with existing laws remains a challenge. photo: Reuters/file Star Business Report Star Business Report
People that work from home need better protection, especially since their numbers have greatly increased due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to a report from the International Labour Organization (ILO) issued yesterday. Since working from home occurs in a private environment, it is often considered invisible , the ILO said in its report styled, Working from home. From invisibility to decent work .
These people are usually worse off financially than those who work outside their homes, even when it comes to higher-skilled professions.
The International Labor Organization says millions of people forced to work at home because of the coronavirus pandemic labor under poor and exploitative conditions.
Prior to the pandemic, an estimated 260 million people, representing 7.9 percent of global employment worked from home. The International Labor Organization expects this number now to be substantially higher.
The ILO says problems affecting workers often are invisible because they occur within the privacy of their own homes. The report finds homeworkers in low-and-middle income countries are most at risk.
Homeworkers need to be better protected, says the ILO
Since homeworking occurs in the private sphere it is often invisible . In low- and middle-income countries for instance, almost all home-based workers (90 per cent) work informally.
They are usually worse off than those who work outside the home, even in higher-skilled professions. Homeworkers earn on average 13 per cent less in the United Kingdom; 22 per cent less in the United States of America; 25 per cent less in South Africa and about 50 per cent in Argentina, India and Mexico.
Homeworkers also face greater safety and health risks and have less access to training than non-home-based workers, which can affect their career prospects.
Those working from home, whose number has greatly increased due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, need better protection, says the International.