ILO chief says pandemic's impact on work is "cataclysmic"

[June 07, 2021]  GENEVA (Reuters) - The head of the International Labour Organization on Monday described the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world of work as "cataclysmic" and much worse than that of the 2008 financial crisis.

Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Guy Ryder attends the 108th ILO International Labour Conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland June 10, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

"Taken as a whole, this represents a world-of-work crisis four times as severe as the financial crisis of 2008-2009," said Guy Ryder, director-general of the ILO, at the opening of a two-week ministerial conference.

He also warned of an uneven economic recovery after the pandemic, partly fed by "gross inequities in vaccine distribution".

(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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