GENEVA (ILO News)- The global economy is slowing down, making it harder for labour markets to recover fully, according to the newly-released, World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2025. In 2024, global employment grew in line with the labour force, keeping the unemployment rate steady at 5 per cent, the report says. However, youth unemployment showed little improvement, remaining high at 12.6 per cent. Informal work and working poverty returned to pre-pandemic levels, and lowincome countries faced the most difficulties in creating decent jobs.

Madhu Jaiswal
Madhu Jaiswal, 20-year-old woman who completed her education up to Year 12 but left school to support her widowed mother and four siblings. She is currently neither studying, training, nor employed. Lives in Delhi.
00:00 – 00:05
Madhu Jaiswal (in Hindi)
English translation: “There are no jobs. I’m looking for one, but I haven’t found anything yet.”
00:05 – 00:10
Madhu Jaiswal (in Hindi)
English translation: “I’ve only studied up to Year 12. They say those who’ve studied more are the ones who get jobs.”
00:10 – 00:24
Madhu Jaiswal (in Hindi)
English translation:
“I don’t like sitting at home idle and being a burden to my mother. I’m already of working age, and I could help my family if I had a job.”
00:24 – 00:43
Madhu Jaiswal (in Hindi)
English translation:
“I’ve asked many people to help me find work.
They’ve tried to get me jobs in big offices, but I wouldn’t be able to work in such places. They ask for documented proof of what I’ve done since leaving school.
I don’t have that, so I’m not getting a job.”
00:43 – 00:49
Madhu Jaiswal (in Hindi)
English translation:
“Everyone dreams of a job in a big office, but they’re not getting it.”
00:49 – 00:57
Madhu Jaiswal (in Hindi)
English translation:
“Now I’m grown up, and my mother is getting older.
I left school after Year 12 to support her.”
00:57 – 01:02
Madhu Jaiswal (in Hindi)
English translation:
“I plan to learn sewing and find work in that field.”
01:02 – 01:16
B-roll footage: Madhu Jaiswal helps at her mother’s food stall.
01:16 – 01:24
B-roll footage: Madhu Jaiswal walks with her mother and alone.
Saurabh
Saurabh 25-year-old man who is currently unemployed and pursuing a graduate degree through an open university.
Lives in Delhi.
01:24 – 02:01
Saurabh (in Hindi)
English translation:
“One doesn’t get respect if you don’t have a job.
Society values and respects people who are employed. Everyone calls me unemployed. They ask me, ‘Why don’t you get a job?’
I tell them, ‘I’m trying. I give interviews everywhere, but I’m not getting any responses.’
I feel like there’s something wrong with me,
or maybe there’s a flaw I can’t seem to overcome.”
02:01 – 02:09
Saurabh (in Hindi)
English translation:
“I’m ready to take any job, whether in India or abroad.
But I need to be given one, right?”
02:09 – 02:35
Saurabh (in Hindi)
English translation:
“I’m currently in my second year of college.
I first went to a private college, but I had to drop out when I faced difficulties. Then I joined IGNOU University, where I’m now in my second year.”
02:35 – 02:47
B-roll footage: Saurabh walks outside along city street
02:48 – 02:56
B-roll footage: Saurabh at home, he folds clothes.
02:56 – 03:05
B-roll footage: Saurabh speaks with a friend of a similar age.
03:06 – 03:26
Sound bite with Ekkehard Ernst, Chief of the Macro-economic policies and jobs unit, RESEARCH department, ILO in Geneva, Switzerland (in English):
“The good news is that the global unemployment rate is holding steady at 5 percent. But behind this number, there is long-term stagnation, especially for developing countries. Growth is uneven. The looming threat of trade barriers will only make it harder for them to export. They will become less integrated into global markets, and less likely to grow.”
03:26 – 03:51
Sound bite with Ekkehard Ernst, Chief of the Macro-economic policies and jobs unit, RESEARCH department, ILO in Geneva, Switzerland (in English): “Young people have always faced a higher risk of unemployment than adults. But what is even more worrying now is that many more young people are not working or studying than there were in 2023. And they lack the incentive to work or learn. This makes it very hard for them to find their way back into the labour market and into stable and productive employment. This trend is particularly clear in developing countries.”
03:51
END