(Yicai Global) Nov. 30 -- Just 0.5 percent of jobs in the Asia Pacific are in information technology and other information services despite regional employment in the sector growing at the fastest pace over the past decade, a new International Labor Organization report showed.

Employment in IT rose 7.2 percent annually between 1991 and 2021 in the APAC region, but only 9.4 million people work in the sector, according to the Asia-Pacific Employment and Social Outlook 2022 report published on Nov. 28. And three-quarters of the 8 million IT jobs added over the period went to men.

For number of jobs added in the 10 years, the top five sectors were wholesale and retail trade, construction, manufacturing, accommodation and food service activities, and education, adding 166 million, 125 million, 92 million, 54 million, and 44 million workers, respectively

APAC labor markets have only partially recovered from the Covid-19 crisis, the report said. Though the region’s employment figures rose 2 percent this year from 2019, data showed that the labor market is not yet back on its pre-pandemic track.

The APAC employment-to-population ratio in 2022 was 56.2 percent, slightly below the pre-crisis trend of 56.9 percent. Regional joblessness was 12 percent higher in 2022 than in 2019 and the regional unemployment rate was 5.2 percent, up 0.5 percentage point in the period.

Compared to where job numbers would be in Asia Pacific if the Covid-19 disruption had never happened, there is a jobs gap this year of 22 million, equal to 1.1 percent. The gap is expected to widen to 26 million next year, given the regional and global economic and geopolitical headwinds.

Economic activity in the region has not yet recovered from the shock brought about by the pandemic, according to the ILO. The International Monetary Fund forecast APAC gross domestic product growth this year at 6 percent below pre-crisis expectations, and the gap is expected to remain unchanged next year.

While the Covid-19 situation appears to be largely under control in most APAC countries, high and increasing inflation rates undermine the purchasing power of consumers and corporations, thereby threatening livelihoods and hampering economic recovery, the report said.

Editor: Futura Costaglione