ILO: Turkey to face high unemployment over next three years

In a period of worsening employment figures and slower growth, as well as widening global income inequality, the Turkish unemployment rate is expected to be 9.2, 8.9 and 9 percent in the years 2015, 2016, and 2017 respectively, states a recent report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

According to the “World Employment and Social Outlook - Trends 2015” report published by the ILO on Tuesday, the global unemployment rate will continue to rise in the next five years, as the world economy has entered a new period combining slower growth, widening income inequalities and turbulence since the start of the global financial crisis in 2008. The report projects that the unemployment rate will also remain high in Turkey.

Since the global financial crisis began, 61 million jobs have been lost and more than 212 million will be out of work by 2019, according to the ILO's forecast.

The organization's assessment indicates that though there was a widespread decline in income inequality during the first half of the 2000s, as was seen in Turkey, the progress in this area has slowed since 2008, and overall income inequality has increased in six of the nine countries in Turkey's central and southeastern Europe regional group, including in Turkey.

Underlining that income inequality on the rise fuels social unrest, the organization said inequalities between citizens undermines trust in governments. The report also noted that there is a correlation between youth unemployment and restlessness. Social unrest is especially dominant in countries where male youth unemployment is high or rising rapidly; no link has been found between female youth unemployment and civil unrest. According to official October 2014 government data, the latest recorded figure, Turkey's youth unemployment rate is 19.7 percent.

The report also mentioned the vast refugee influx into Turkey from Syria as millions of people have fled the country's bloody civil war. As a result of its proximity to Syria, Turkey has taken in up to 1.6 million of the 3 million refugees who have left the country due to the turmoil. 

The head of the ILO also stated on Tuesday that world leaders meeting in Davos, Switzerland this week are likely to agree that inequality is a problem, but are unlikely to do anything about it.