OECD Employment Outlook 2020
Worker Security and the COVID-19 Crisis
The 2020 edition of the OECD Employment Outlook focuses on worker security and the COVID-19 crisis. Chapter 1 provides an initial assessment of the labour market consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting economic crisis. It also presents an overview of the emergency labour market and social policy measures implemented by OECD countries and discusses directions for further policy adaptation as countries move out of lockdown. Chapter 2 investigates the uneven access to unemployment benefits for workers in part-time and less stable jobs, which often accentuates the hardship they face in times of crisis, and discusses the difficult balance between work incentives and income security. Chapter 3 provides a comparative review of employment protection legislation (EPL) across OECD countries by developing a new version of the OECD's EPL indicators, which now include an improved assessment of regulations for collective redundancies, unfair dismissals and enforcement issues. Chapter 4 takes a fresh look at job polarisation, and in particular the hollowing out of jobs in middle-skill occupations. Finally, Chapter 5 examines the changing labour market outcomes for middle-educated vocational education and training graduates, whose labour market perspectives are challenged by the contraction of jobs in middle-skill occupations.
Also available in: French
COVID‑19: From a health to a jobs crisis
The COVID‑19 outbreak and its rapid diffusion across the globe have turned into the worst public health crisis in living memory. The pandemic forced countries to impose strict containment and mitigation policies and severely affected social and economic activities, driving the global economy to a major recession. Most countries responded quickly and put in place, from the very first stages of the crisis, an unprecedented package of labour market and social policies aiming at reducing the economic shock and supporting workers, their families and companies. This chapter provides a first assessment of the initial labour market impact of the COVID‑19 crisis and a review of countries’ wide set of policy responses. It also provides some reflections on how countries could adapt the measures taken in the first months of the crisis as they start softening mitigation policies.
Also available in: French
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