Unemployment during COVID-19 – the most severe impact in this pandemic faced by individuals and economies!!

It is not hidden that how Covid-19 incapacitated the global job market and governments all over the globe. However, it is pretty clear that they don’t think through how they are going to outfit such mass unemployment. If the Indian economy turns out to be a person, her income in the year 2021-22 and 2022-23 will be much less as compared to that of 2019-20. There is an enormous economic pain ahead, both the policy and politics have to work all together to take the edge off it. 

International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that more than 25 million jobs have been threatened due to the spread of novel coronavirus globally. It is shown that four out of five that is around 81% of the 3.3 billion people worldwide have been affected by either partial or full workplace closure. The UK, US, Canada, and various Europian and Asian countries have registered a huge loss in jobs which increases their rate of unemployment. Kristalina Georgieva, the head of IMF ( International Monetary Fund), said that this is the second-worst economic crisis faced by the world since the great depression of the 1930s. There are various controversial approaches adopted by countries such as the US. The United States allowed the companies to fire their employees, however, they have decided to protect these employees by providing them traditional unemployment benefits with special grants. 

Other countries have taken different approaches, such as countries from Germany and France, to Italy and the UK who released a scheme where unemployed workers will be given subsidies for the hours they are not employed. Somehow, these approaches will help to protect the surge of unemployment and falling demand. And once the economy restarts, the businesses won’t have to work through the long cost-intensive rehiring process. 

There are major concerns for low-paid and low-skilled informal workers in low and middle-skilled countries, these people account for 61% of the global workforce or 2 billion million with the lack of social protection. This sudden job loss which affects their livelihood must be so horrifying for them! A survey said that within two weeks period of informal lockdown 119 million informal workers have lost their jobs. 

The CMIE shows a significant fall in jobs and reaches to the unemployment rate stands at 8.7% in March 2020. Understandably, this indicates that the current national lockdown has been the biggest job destroyer in history. 

Many companies or employees will be able to go back to their work after this Unlock is properly completed. But some companies such as Transportation and storage, accommodation, food service, entertainment, and construction will probably take a while to develop their business like before. Now, these companies have been reliant on the government protection scheme, but for how long, at some point subsidies wither out, then the companies have to lay off their employees in one way or another. This will actually accelerate the unemployment rate at different levels. 

ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder

“ For Million of workers, No income means no food, no security, and no future. Millions of businesses around the world are barely breathing. They have no savings or access to credit. These are the real faces of the world of work. If we don’t help them now, these enterprises will simply perish. As the pandemic and job crisis evolves, the need to protect the most vulnerable becomes even more urgent.”

The CMIE survey released that the joblessness in the urban areas has been increased to 11.26% from 10.69% in the last week. 

However, if you have already lost your jobs, you will be probably looking for upskilling or other job opportunities or even switch your businesses- something that the US is already doing.

Scaling back subsidy is not a mean task. Governments are immensely pressured to keep extending these programs such as Spain’s government, the subsidy is supposed to be ended in June, however, the negotiation between trade unions and businesses extended till September. 

Unemployment is not an easy nut to crack, subsidies are just a short version to put stability in workers!! This time Right Now Jobs can be considered as Zombies – alive but dead.