Social Media

The economic and labor crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic could increase global unemployment by almost 25 million, according to a new assessment by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The coronavirus pandemic could trigger a global economic crisis destroying up to 25 million jobs around the world if governments do not act fast to shield workers from the impact. ILO, which is based in Geneva, stated: However, if we see an internationally coordinated policy response, as happened in the global financial crisis of 2008-9, then the impact on global unemployment could be significantly lower. The organization called for urgent, large-scale and coordinated measures across three key areas: protecting workers in the workplace, stimulating the economy and employment, and supporting jobs and incomes. These measures include extending social protection, supporting employment retention (i.e. short-time work, paid leave, other subsidies), and financial and tax relief, including for ..

Bus-hailing service Swvl has announced that it will continue the services in Pakistan while ensuring additional precautionary measures to keep the rides safe for both the crew and commuters. A press statement from the ride-hailing service says it has collaborated with the government’s transportation officials to spread the awareness among Swvl riders about coronavirus prevention. Some of the precautionary measures the company has adopted include providing captains with disinfectants, crew training to keep bus seats clean before and after each ride, and more. Swvl says that it has also activated an open windows policy to ensure the required fresh air ventilation, and lowered the seating capacity to make sure its riders can get the required personal space. Swvl has also urged riders to restrict their commute to necessary purposes only besides cleaning their hands frequently and keeping the required personal space during commutes. The service said that it would keep assessing the sit..

Pakistan’s Large Scale Manufacturing Industries’ (LSMI) output during the first seven months of the current financial year witnessed a 3.37% reduction. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) the LSMI output during the period from July-January, 2019-20 decreased by 3.37% in Jul-January 2019 as compared to Jul-Jan 2018. Meanwhile, the data revealed that LSMI’s output on a year on year basis also decreased by 5.96% during the month of January 2020. However, on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, LSMI witnessed an increase of 7.09 percent in January 2020 as compared to December 2019. During the seven months, growth of 11 items related to OCAC industries witnessed a decline of 10.59% from 112.72 points to 100.78 points, the Ministry of Industries’ related 36 items registered a negative growth of 3.12%, from 132.54 points to 128.41 points, and 65 items related to Provincial Bureau of Statistics (BOS) showed a negative growth of 2.36%, from 178.19 points to 173.99 points. Accordi..