In recent times, in the Asia-Pacific region, has witnessed a rapid, economic and intra-regional trade growth much faster than trade with the rest of the world.
However, the increasing labour productivity has not resulted neither in higher wages nor generated better employment opportunities. Among the 1.71 billion workers in the region, over one billion still do not earn enough to lift themselves and their families above the $2-a-day poverty line. Unemployment in the informal economy is worsening. ILO’s report also leads to disillusionment that Asia’s strength in cost- competitiveness and expansion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is not as rosy as imagined. Basically, this translates into a condition where the wages are not perhaps as good as in the developed world thanwhat most people earn in the developing world. A software engineer in the United States is likely to earnin five times than a person employed in India. The gap between productivity and wages is further accentuated where women are concerned. The hype about the ICT sector generating lots of employment is also unfounded, according to the report. A great deal of research and ground work need to be done in this area.
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