World bank: Jobs need to increase worldwide by 600 million

Hundreds of millions of new jobs need to be created to keep up with global population increases by 2020, the World Bank has announced. The global economic crisis and other recent events have raised employment issues to the center of the development dialogue, said a recent report by the Bank. World Development Report (WDR) authors, who processed over 800 surveys and censuses to arrive at their findings, estimate that worldwide, more than 3 billion people are working, but nearly half work in farming, small household enterprises, or in casual or seasonal day labor, where safety nets are modest or sometimes non-existent and earnings are often meager. "The youth challenge alone is staggering. More than 620 million young people are neither working nor studying. Just to keep employment rates constant, the worldwide number of jobs will have to increase by around 600 million over a 15-year period", says Martin Rama, WDR Director. In developing countries, jobs are a cornerstone of development, with a pay off far beyond income alone. They are critical for reducing poverty, making cities work, and providing youth with alternatives to violence, says the new World Bank report. "A good job can change a person’s life, and the right jobs can transform entire societies. Governments need to move jobs to center stage to promote prosperity and fight poverty," World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said, "It's critical that governments work well with the private sector, which accounts for 90 percent of all jobs. Therefore, we need to find the best ways to help small firms and farms grow. Jobs equal hope. Jobs equal peace. Jobs can make fragile countries become stable." The World Bank urged governments to work with the private sector to promote job growth and provide a positive atmosphere for business and policy development to help create more jobs.