Fiji’s Ministry of Employment will soon carry out a survey to gauge the impact of COVID-19 in workplaces and take specific measures.
The move comes after projections by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that 305 million jobs worldwide will be lost by mid-year, calling on countries to have clear and full understanding of the impact of COVID-19, from which they can ascertain measures to protect the world economy else face long lasting implications.
International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Director for Office of the South Pacific, Matin Karimly said: “Globally, around 436 million enterprises such as tourism, food, retailing and manufacturing has witnessed the pandemic being hit harder.
At this stage, it’s crucial for countries to have clear and full understanding of the impact of COVID-19 to take specific measures. For this purpose, we reiterate that any intervention or positive decisions should be based on evidences and reliable data.”
Accordingly, Minister for Employment, Parveen Kumar said the survey in Fiji is “will enable us to plan for means to overcome some of the short-term effects of the economic downturn, including planning for government and international programs towards overcoming some of these impacts.”
“We must employ strategies to stay strong and put in place mechanisms that we have our various sectors ready to make a return once the global economic machinery begins to move once again.”
About 140 enumerators have been trained to carry out this survey.
