About 400 million workers inIndia, working in the informal economy, are at risk of falling deeper intopoverty during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The International LabourOrganisation (ILO) said in a report on Wednesday that the COVID-19 pandemic isaffecting 2.7 billion workers globally due to lockdowns.

In India, nearly 90 per cent ofthe people work in the informal economy and about 400 million of these are atrisk. ILO said without appropriate policy measures, workers face a high risk offalling into poverty and will experience greater challenges in regaining theirlivelihoods during the recovery period.

Employment contraction has already begun on a large (oftenunprecedented) scale in many countries. In the absence of other data, changesin working hours, which reflect both layoffs and other temporary reductions inworking time, give a better picture about the dire reality of the currentlabour market situation.

Using this approach, as of 1 April 2020, the ILO's newglobal estimates indicate that working hours will decline by 6.7 per cent inthe second quarter of 2020, which is equivalent to 195 million full-timeworkers.

Out of the 25 million jobs at risk, 11.2 million are inAsia-Pacific, 5.6 million in Europe, 2.9 million in Latin America, 2 million inNorth America, 2 million in Africa and 0.9 million in the Middle East. In thesame scenario, airlines are expected to see full year passenger revenues fallby $252 billion (-44 per cent) in 2020 compared to 2019. The second quarter isthe most critical with demand falling 70 per cent at its worst point, andairlines burning through $61 billion in cash.