Geneva – The U.N.’s labor organization estimates the equivalent of 195 million full-time jobs could be lost in the second quarter alone from the COVID-19 outbreak, with businesses and plants shuttered worldwide.

The projection from the International Labor Organization is based on an emerging impact of the virus, and it amounts to a big increase from its March 18 prediction for an extra 25 million jobs losses for all of 2020.

“These figures speak powerfully for themselves: That the world of work is suffering an absolutely extraordinary fall,” said Guy Ryder, the agency’s director-general.

The U.N. agency said lockdown measures now affect nearly 2.7 billion workers or about 81% of the global workforce. Some 1.25 billion workers are in hard-hit sectors such as hotel and food services, manufacturing and retail.