International Labour Office. World Employment Report 1998-99. Employability in the Global Economy: How Training Matters. Geneva: ILO. 248pp.Paperback. Price US$34.95.

Statistics reveal that some one billion employable workers are unemployed— almost 33 percent of the total global workforce. Unemployment has therefore come to be a significant political issue in Western Europe, the developing world, and the former ‘tiger’ economies of the Far East and South East Asia. Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, undergoing a process of structural reform, have also significant populations that are in search of employment. The world outlook for employment is therefore very grim. Such high levels of unemployment cause major economic losses not only to national economies but also to the world economy by reducing growth rates, thereby further adding to the problem of unemployment, a vicious cycle indeed. The rise of unemployment levels requires radical new measures that need to be put in place if this problem is to be tackled effectively at the national and international levels.