Middle East crisis could reshape jobs across Asia-Pacific, ILO brief says

BANGKOK (ILO News) – The Middle East crisis could accelerate major shifts in employment across Asia and the Pacific as countries seek to reduce their dependence on imported fossil fuels and strengthen energy security, according to a new International Labour Organization (ILO) brief. However, while faster investment in renewable energy, storage and electrification could create significant job opportunities, employment gains will not necessarily benefit the same workers, sectors or communities facing job losses and restructuring.

The brief, The Middle East crisis, energy security and just transition in Asia-Pacific: Labour market implications, finds that disruption to energy supplies has exposed the region’s vulnerability to imported fossil fuels and strengthened the case for greater energy diversification and resilience.

It identifies a series of policy priorities to ensure these changes support a just transition that delivers decent work and leaves no workers or communities behind. A central recommendation is to integrate employment and social considerations into energy-security and investment planning from the outset. Closer coordination between energy, industrial, employment, skills and social protection policies will be needed to anticipate where jobs will be created, transformed or lost.

“A faster energy transition can create significant employment opportunities across Asia and the Pacific. However, the new jobs may be in different places, require different skills and offer different working conditions from those being displaced. The challenge is to make sure workers, employers and communities can navigate that change and share in its benefits,” Tuomo Poutiainen, ILO Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific said.

The shift in employment is expected to increase demand for occupations including engineers, electricians, construction workers, installers, technicians and operations and maintenance workers. Reskilling and upskilling should be combined with employment services, job matching and mobility support, with particular attention to women, young people and informal workers.

The brief stresses that job quality must accompany job creation, including adequate wages and working conditions, occupational safety and health, social protection and workers’ rights. Greater social protection coverage can also cushion households from higher energy, food and transport costs and support workers through unemployment, retraining and occupational change. This is particularly important in a region where nearly two thirds of employment remains informal.

It also calls for targeted support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and stronger regional cooperation, while emphasizing the importance of social dialogue between governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations to help anticipate employment impacts, identify skills needs and agree support for affected workers and communities.

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