ESDE review 2021: New Challenges for the World of Work due to the COVID-19 Crisis

On July 5, the Commission’s services published the 2021 edition of the Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) review, which shows a diverse impact of COVID-19 crisis on the World of Work.

According to the findings of the review:

• The employment in jobs that cannot be carried out from home (especially in sectors such as accommodation, food and travel) saw a drop.
• The impact of the pandemic on employment varies depending on geographical factors, with rural areas and the Mediterranean regions having the most job losses.
• Well-performing labor markets proved to be more resilient to the crisis.
• While in some Member States measures to reduce the transmission risk of the virus limited traditional collective bargaining procedures, in others social partners played a key-role in deploying response measures.
• The pandemic highlighted the existence of chronic gender inequalities.
• Working from home seems to be beneficial for workers when it does not lead to poor work-life balance.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: ‘The pandemic has hit workers, sectors and regions differently, but it highlighted the importance of the inclusion of workers and trade unions in response and restructuring measures. Especially in countries with strong social dialogue institutions, trade unions proved to be indispensable to designing strategies to building inclusive and resilient societies.’

Read the full review here.