Quality jobs vital for Asia's growth, stability - Report

SINGAPORE - Asia's policymakers must take decisive steps to generate high quality, productive jobs if the region is to sustain and broaden the benefits of its economic expansion of the past two decades, says an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report published recently.

In a special chapter of Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2011, its flagship annual statistical publication, ADB says Asia has outstripped other regions in growth and employment creation since 1990.

This has led to substantial improvements in living standards, but progress has been uneven in this heterogeneous region. Asia still remains home to most of the world's poor with more than 40 percent of most countries' populations living below the $2-a-day poverty line.

Lower-income countries are having difficulty meeting some of the Millennium Development Goal targets and where progress has lagged, social tensions may arise. Despite recent turmoil in financial markets, policymakers must keep focused on structural improvements.

As Asia grapples with globalisation and changing demographics, including an expanding middle class and aging societies, it will face even more pressure to generate quality jobs that can satisfy public aspirations and support inclusive growth. Many of the new jobs that have been created in Asia are low-cost, low-wage manufacturing positions.

"The percentage of workers in informal employment in Asia remains sharply higher than in most other regions. Quality jobs are important for reducing poverty and income inequality, and for promoting social cohesion and political stability," said ADB's Chief Economist Changyong Rhee.

The special chapter, titled "Toward Higher Quality Employment in Asia," says the pattern and rate of job creation across the region have been sharply mixed, and growth is not enough on its own to guarantee quality jobs with decent wages and conditions. -ADB