Md. Zillur Rahaman :
The scale of job losses is likely to hit unprecedented levels in the coming days and months as business activity in cities, municipalities and states around the world is brought to a sudden halt in an attempt to lessen the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the financial crisis in 2008, most of the central banks were able to combine lowered interest rates with quantitative easing in order to increase monetary supply and ease pressure on the banking system. But in the case of COVID-19, one key difference is that the impact is much broader than just one sector. Airlines, transportation, hospitality and tourism and small business owners have been the immediate impact but if the virus continues to spread as estimated, any industry relying on manufacturing and production will be affected as well due to the disruption in the global supply chain and in the whole job market.
The job market can grow or shrink depending on the demand for labor and the available supply of workers within the overall economy. Other factors which impact the market are the needs of a specific industry, the need for a particular education level or skill set, business shock, natural outbreak and required job functions. The job market is a significant component of any economy and is directly tied in with the demand for goods and services.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could trigger a global economic crisis destroying up to 25 million jobs around the world if governments do not act fast to shield workers from the impact. It called for urgent, large-scale and coordinated measures to protect workers in the workplace, stimulate the economy and support jobs and incomes.
The ILO also mentioned that such measures should include extending social protection, supporting employment retention through short-time work or paid leave, as well as financial and tax relief, including for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Based on different scenarios for the impact of the pandemic on global economic growth, ILO estimated global unemployment would rise by between 5.3 million (low scenario) and 24.7 million (high scenario). By comparison, the 2008-09 global financial crisis increased global unemployment by 22 million.
COVID-19 is no longer only a global health crisis, it is also a major labor market and economic crisis that is having a huge impact on people. In 2008, the world presented a united front to address the consequences of the global financial crisis, and the worst was averted. We need that kind of leadership and resolve now.
The US is experiencing an unprecedented rise in unemployment as industries such as hospitality and food service grind to a halt. A record 3.30 million people filed claims for unemployment in the US as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down large parts of America’s economy and the full scale of the impact of the crisis began to emerge. The figure is the highest ever reported, beating the previous record of 695,000 claims filed the week ending October 2, 1982.
The release offers the first official glimpse of the severe economic downturn that the US faces as companies shutter businesses and states across the country move to prevent people from gathering in crowds in an attempt to contain the virus.
Across the US, laid-off workers have overwhelmed state labor departments with claims for unemployment benefits. The Trump administration is pushing through a $2 trillion stimulus package that includes payments to taxpayers as well as bailouts for hard-hit industries to mitigate COVID-19’s impact. But the money will not head off a huge surge in unemployment.
Nearly every state cited the impact of COVID-19, the labor department said. Service industries broadly, particularly accommodation and food services, were hard hit although states also cited healthcare and social assistance, arts, entertainment and recreation, transportation and warehousing, and manufacturing industries.
In the Gulf States, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other economies that rely heavily on migrant workers to construct their buildings, nurse their ill and serve their food, people are facing painful but life changing decisions because of coronavirus. Although, some companies are keeping workers on staff, but lay-offs are already happening in the Gulf and across Asia as lockdowns bring services, tourism and construction to a halt.
The biggest beneficiaries of remittance inflows are mostly countries in East Asia, led by India, China and the Philippines. As a region, the Gulf is among the largest sources of remittance outflows, having sent $119 billion home in 2017, the latest year for which complete data are available. The UAE and Saudi Arabia were the world’s second and third-largest exporters of remittances after the US, according to World Bank data.
But in the Gulf States, governments have announced multibillion dollar support packages for businesses, but lay-offs are beginning as states tighten lockdowns, including suspending international and domestic travel, closing malls and cautioning people to stay at home.
As migrant workers lose their jobs, it is not only the economies they work in that suffer, but also the economies of their home countries. Analysts say a big shock lies ahead for economies that rely heavily on remittances, including India, Bangladesh, Philippines and others. It will hit on two fronts: returning workers are expected to add to swelling unemployment rolls, and the revenues they used to contribute, vital foreign currency earnings, will fall.
After the outbreak, many European countries, specially Italy, Spain, France and Germany have taken some unprecedented measures to contain the spread of the virus. Those measures include enforcing lockdown, banning travel, shutting down shops, restaurants, bars, small businesses, and non-essential company departments. Tourism in those countries has also been hit hard and many expatriate workers have already either off the job or left the country in fear of the pandemic.
Bangladeshi expatriates in some European counties, especially in Italy, find themselves in a precarious situation amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, with many of them left with no jobs and stuck at home without adequate supply of daily essentials.
According to Bangladesh’s Wage Earners’ Welfare Board, there are some 12 million Bangladeshis expatriates working across the globe and they also send home around $15 billion in hard-earned money, a lifeline of Bangladesh’s economy. Experts fear that the remittance flow would be hit severely if the situation did not change soon and they don’t to their covet job.
Among those countries, the worst affected is Italy, home to nearly two lakh Bangladeshi expatriates, including some 50,000 undocumented workers. Although the number of Bangladeshis found infected with the virus is still low, many of them have become jobless after the authorities shut down different business.
Gripped by the fear of being infected, they are seriously concerned about their livelihood as their families back home in Bangladesh heavily depend on their income. They fear bleak days ahead if the situation does not improve and return their previous job without any hassle. Those who have valid job contracts might get some compensations, but the others illegal or undocumented would be in a “bigger trouble”.
Although it is not an easy task, the Bangladesh government should extend its support to the expatriates and get engaged with the authorities of the coronavirus-hit countries and to overcome the upcoming volatile situation in job market as well as remittance inflow, we should take precautionary measures to tackle the issues smoothly.
(Md. Zillur Rahaman, Banker and Freelance Contributor, Dhaka; email: [email protected])
The scale of job losses is likely to hit unprecedented levels in the coming days and months as business activity in cities, municipalities and states around the world is brought to a sudden halt in an attempt to lessen the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the financial crisis in 2008, most of the central banks were able to combine lowered interest rates with quantitative easing in order to increase monetary supply and ease pressure on the banking system. But in the case of COVID-19, one key difference is that the impact is much broader than just one sector. Airlines, transportation, hospitality and tourism and small business owners have been the immediate impact but if the virus continues to spread as estimated, any industry relying on manufacturing and production will be affected as well due to the disruption in the global supply chain and in the whole job market.
The job market can grow or shrink depending on the demand for labor and the available supply of workers within the overall economy. Other factors which impact the market are the needs of a specific industry, the need for a particular education level or skill set, business shock, natural outbreak and required job functions. The job market is a significant component of any economy and is directly tied in with the demand for goods and services.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could trigger a global economic crisis destroying up to 25 million jobs around the world if governments do not act fast to shield workers from the impact. It called for urgent, large-scale and coordinated measures to protect workers in the workplace, stimulate the economy and support jobs and incomes.
The ILO also mentioned that such measures should include extending social protection, supporting employment retention through short-time work or paid leave, as well as financial and tax relief, including for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Based on different scenarios for the impact of the pandemic on global economic growth, ILO estimated global unemployment would rise by between 5.3 million (low scenario) and 24.7 million (high scenario). By comparison, the 2008-09 global financial crisis increased global unemployment by 22 million.
COVID-19 is no longer only a global health crisis, it is also a major labor market and economic crisis that is having a huge impact on people. In 2008, the world presented a united front to address the consequences of the global financial crisis, and the worst was averted. We need that kind of leadership and resolve now.
The US is experiencing an unprecedented rise in unemployment as industries such as hospitality and food service grind to a halt. A record 3.30 million people filed claims for unemployment in the US as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down large parts of America’s economy and the full scale of the impact of the crisis began to emerge. The figure is the highest ever reported, beating the previous record of 695,000 claims filed the week ending October 2, 1982.
The release offers the first official glimpse of the severe economic downturn that the US faces as companies shutter businesses and states across the country move to prevent people from gathering in crowds in an attempt to contain the virus.
Across the US, laid-off workers have overwhelmed state labor departments with claims for unemployment benefits. The Trump administration is pushing through a $2 trillion stimulus package that includes payments to taxpayers as well as bailouts for hard-hit industries to mitigate COVID-19’s impact. But the money will not head off a huge surge in unemployment.
Nearly every state cited the impact of COVID-19, the labor department said. Service industries broadly, particularly accommodation and food services, were hard hit although states also cited healthcare and social assistance, arts, entertainment and recreation, transportation and warehousing, and manufacturing industries.
In the Gulf States, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other economies that rely heavily on migrant workers to construct their buildings, nurse their ill and serve their food, people are facing painful but life changing decisions because of coronavirus. Although, some companies are keeping workers on staff, but lay-offs are already happening in the Gulf and across Asia as lockdowns bring services, tourism and construction to a halt.
The biggest beneficiaries of remittance inflows are mostly countries in East Asia, led by India, China and the Philippines. As a region, the Gulf is among the largest sources of remittance outflows, having sent $119 billion home in 2017, the latest year for which complete data are available. The UAE and Saudi Arabia were the world’s second and third-largest exporters of remittances after the US, according to World Bank data.
But in the Gulf States, governments have announced multibillion dollar support packages for businesses, but lay-offs are beginning as states tighten lockdowns, including suspending international and domestic travel, closing malls and cautioning people to stay at home.
As migrant workers lose their jobs, it is not only the economies they work in that suffer, but also the economies of their home countries. Analysts say a big shock lies ahead for economies that rely heavily on remittances, including India, Bangladesh, Philippines and others. It will hit on two fronts: returning workers are expected to add to swelling unemployment rolls, and the revenues they used to contribute, vital foreign currency earnings, will fall.
After the outbreak, many European countries, specially Italy, Spain, France and Germany have taken some unprecedented measures to contain the spread of the virus. Those measures include enforcing lockdown, banning travel, shutting down shops, restaurants, bars, small businesses, and non-essential company departments. Tourism in those countries has also been hit hard and many expatriate workers have already either off the job or left the country in fear of the pandemic.
Bangladeshi expatriates in some European counties, especially in Italy, find themselves in a precarious situation amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, with many of them left with no jobs and stuck at home without adequate supply of daily essentials.
According to Bangladesh’s Wage Earners’ Welfare Board, there are some 12 million Bangladeshis expatriates working across the globe and they also send home around $15 billion in hard-earned money, a lifeline of Bangladesh’s economy. Experts fear that the remittance flow would be hit severely if the situation did not change soon and they don’t to their covet job.
Among those countries, the worst affected is Italy, home to nearly two lakh Bangladeshi expatriates, including some 50,000 undocumented workers. Although the number of Bangladeshis found infected with the virus is still low, many of them have become jobless after the authorities shut down different business.
Gripped by the fear of being infected, they are seriously concerned about their livelihood as their families back home in Bangladesh heavily depend on their income. They fear bleak days ahead if the situation does not improve and return their previous job without any hassle. Those who have valid job contracts might get some compensations, but the others illegal or undocumented would be in a “bigger trouble”.
Although it is not an easy task, the Bangladesh government should extend its support to the expatriates and get engaged with the authorities of the coronavirus-hit countries and to overcome the upcoming volatile situation in job market as well as remittance inflow, we should take precautionary measures to tackle the issues smoothly.
(Md. Zillur Rahaman, Banker and Freelance Contributor, Dhaka; email: [email protected])
