The seventh edition of the ILO Monitor presents the latest analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market.
According to this annual report, there are preliminary signs of recovery in global labour markets following the unprecedented disruption in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It confirms the huge impact that labour markets have suffered in 2020. The latest figures show that 8.8 % of global working time has been lost over the last year (compared to the fourth quarter of 2019), corresponding to 255 million full-time jobs. This is about four times more than the number lost during the global financial crisis in 2009.
The publication highlights that the labour market disruptions caused by the pandemic have affected women more than men. Younger workers who either lost their jobs, left the labour market or delayed their entry into the labour market were also particularly hard hit. The report shows an uneven impact on different economic, geographical and labour market sectors. Draws attention to concerns about the K-shaped recovery, whereby these sectors and the workers most affected could be left behind in the recovery, leading to an increase in inequality if corrective measures are not taken.
The most affected sectors are accommodation and food services, where employment decreased on average by more than 20 %, followed by retail and manufacturing. By contrast, employment in information and communication, finance and insurance increased in the second and third quarters of 2020.
Overall, the ILO Monitor notes huge damage to working time and income, with the prospects for recovery in 2021 being slow, uneven and uncertain, unless timely improvements are supported by human-centred recovery policies. The publication presents three recovery scenarios (basic, pessimistic and optimistic) and contains a number of policy recommendations for recovery.
⚠ disclaimer: The text has been automatically translated from the European platform Digital Skills and Jobs. If you have found errors in the text, please contact digikoalice@npi.cz