Global majors join hands to curtail rise in unemployment due coronavirus, lockdowns

As unemployment across the globe spikes to record highs due to coronavirus, global majors – Accenture, Lincoln Financial Group, ServiceNow and Verizon – joined hands in a bid to cushion the blow.

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The group formed an employer-to-employer initiative, People + Work Connect, that brings together companies laying off or furloughing people with those in urgent need of workers. The initiative is free for employers to join and participate, the companies told reporters in a video conference.

So far, ADM, Baxter, Blue Apron, Cargill, Frito-Lay, Lincoln Financial Group, Marriott, Mondelēz International, Nordstrom, ServiceNow, Walmart and Zenefits are some of the participant companies. More than 250 companies are expected to be on-board over the next week, and the platform will soon add public sector jobs.

In the US, 25 million people have been rendered jobless in just four weeks, wiping out all employment generated over the past 12 years.

India, which was already grappling with joblessness, has seen its unemployment rate surge to an unprecedented double-digit level as the country undergoes a complete lockdown to battle the coronavirus pandemic.