We regularly read about job cuts in the forklift industry, but there's obviously a bigger picture which impacts on the global market. According to the International Labour Organisation, around 34 million people worldwide are jobless as a result of the global financial crisis. The organisation is warning that high unemployment and underemployment have high economic and social costs that - unless addressed - have the potential to drain the vitality out of any recovery. The great risk is that short-term job losses become long-term unemployment, producing a progressive loss of workers' skills and exclusion from the productive economy. The ILO will be attempting to find solutions at a conference next month in Oslo titled "The Challenges of Growth, Employment and Social Cohesion".