Article

The asymmetrical impact of the covid-19 crisis on the European labour market

Cesira Urzi Brancati, Songül Tolan, Enrique Fernández-Macías, Ignacio González Vázquez, Marta Fana and Sergio Torrejón Pérez, European Commission’s Joint Research Centre;

The impact that the coronavirus crisis is having on employment is clearly unequal, both among countries and based on worker characteristics. Lockdown measures and the restrictions imposed on activity have jeopardised employment more in some Mediterranean countries (such as Spain). As for workers, it is those with lower salaries, or in precarious forms of employment, as well as young people and women who are included among the people most affected.
Key points
  • 1
       The impact that the covid-19 crisis is having on the labour market is stronger in some Mediterranean countries, such as Spain, as they are countries with a greater proportion of jobs in sectors whose activity has been more negatively affected by the lockdown measures (hotel and catering, leisure and personal services such as, for example, hair salons and dry cleaners.
  • 2
       The impact of the crisis is concentrated on some of the most vulnerable groups in the labour market: workers with low salaries and in precarious jobs, as well as women and young workers.
  • 3
       The crisis has extended the use of teleworking on a major scale, to nearly all those jobs and sectors that allow it.Some of the countries most affected by the crisis (including Spain and Italy) had, prior to it, a comparatively low level of teleworking.
Spain: among those countries with a higher percentage of jobs suspended due to the covid-19 crisis
Spain: among those countries with a higher percentage of jobs suspended due to the covid-19 crisis

Spain and Italy are among the countries most affected by the covid-19 crisis. This is due to these countries having a higher proportion of jobs in sectors that have been forced to close due to lockdown measures: activities related with leisure and wellbeing, tourism, personal services, etc. These sectors total up to 14.2% of total employment in Spain, against the 9.9% average in the block formed by the EU and the United Kingdom. In contrast, the Member States of the centre and north of the EU have a higher proportion of sectors that remain active (whose activity has not been suspended) despite the crisis, because they are essential or allow teleworking, therefore the impact of lockdown on employment is smaller.

Classification

Tags

Subject areas

Related content

Article

Loneliness and social media: why do we feel lonely in the most crowded spaces in the world?

The present study examines whether people who are more addicted to social media feel lonelier because of the negative feelings triggered by social media, namely disappointment, aggressiveness, and negative social comparisons (which may lead to envy and shame), and whether this occurs regardless of the quality of their relationships with significant others.

Article

Digitalisation, automation, and the Portuguese labour market

This article builds on research that seeks to address the impact of digital transformation on jobs and employment, from an analysis focused on the labour market in Portugal. In order to explore the impact of digitalisation on the Portuguese workforce, the authors analysed the survey data, collected between April and July 2022, from a representative sample of 2,000 active workers in Portugal.

Article

Are immigrants more ambitious than their non-migrant compatriots?

Does emigration always bring with it a dose of ambition? We analyse whether immigrants are more oriented toward success, risk, and money than their non-migrant compatriots.

Article

The evolution of the economy and the rejection of immigration in Europe

Behind rejection of the other, and xenophobia, lie factors such as the country’s macroeconomic evolution, individual economic vulnerability and worker exposure to job competition.

Article

Participate or win? Women, men and competitiveness

Are women worse at competing? This article shows that factors exist, of a cultural nature, that can explain part of the discrimination that women suffer in the jobs market.

You may also find interesting

Portugal, Social Balance Sheet 2021 - A portrait of the country and of the pandemic

Article

Portugal, Social Balance Sheet 2021 - A portrait of the country and of the pandemic


Social inclusion

“Portugal, Social Balance Sheet” is an annual report that analyses poverty and social exclusion in Portugal.

How have covid-19 prevention measures affected professionals working at nursing homes?

Article

How have covid-19 prevention measures affected professionals working at nursing homes?


Social inclusion

The impact of covid-19 on older people in nursing homes has been thoroughly researched, but less is known about the impact on health professionals.

The pandemic and the labour market: What we know a year later

Article

The pandemic and the labour market: What we know a year later


Social inclusion

More than one year into the pandemic, employment and hours worked are still lower than in the pre-pandemic period. This article uses secondary data from the Labour Force Survey, conducted by Statistics Portugal, and data on the registrations at Public Employment Offices (Instituto para o Emprego e Formação Profissional).