Version

July 2021

Availability

Externally available

The annual Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) review provides up-to-date economic analysis of employment and social trends in Europe and discusses related policy options. The 2021 edition of the ESDE review shows that the social impact of the COVID-19 crisis has been diverse.

The main findings of the ESDE review are:

• Employment grew in jobs that are critical, can be carried out from home and require low social interaction. This was the case for instance in insurance, computer programming and telecommunications sectors. Jobs that could not be carried out from home saw a drop in employment. This was the highest in the sectors most severely affected by the lockdown measures, such as accommodation, food and travel. The decline was less pronounced in critical frontline jobs with high social interaction, such as doctors, nurses, personal care and childcare workers.
• The geographical impact of the COVID-19 crisis has been uneven and may widen regional inequalities that already existed before the pandemic. Job losses were five times greater in rural areas than in cities. Across EU Member States, the Mediterranean regions were the most affected by job losses, also linked to a greater share of people working in tourism.
• The regions that proved to be more resilient to the shock of COVID-19 tend to share characteristics such as high regional productivity, high level of skilled population levels, big investment in research and development, quality local public institutions and solid digital infrastructure. Overall, well-performing labour markets proved to be better protected against the economic downturn.
• The impact of the crisis on national social dialogue and collective bargaining varied across EU countries. Countries with strong social dialogue institutions favoured the early involvement of social partners in designing and deploying response measures such as short-time work schemes. In some EU countries, health concerns limited traditional collective bargaining procedures, while in others the involvement of social partners increased in the light of urgent public interventions.
• The decline in the EU employment rate was slightly higher for men than for women. However, the effect of the crisis on gender inequalities depends on various dimensions, and the pandemic highlighted long-standing gender inequalities. Women experienced a steeper fall in working hours than men in the second quarter of 2020 since some sectors characterised by high female employment (e.g. accommodation and food service activities) were strongly impacted by lockdowns. Also, women continued to take on the largest share of caring responsibilities, and faced challenges in balancing work and private life.
• Teleworkers are satisfied with working from home when they receive the IT and other equipment they need to do their work, when they do not have to work considerably longer hours and when work does not interfere with family time.

Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, said: “The 2021 Employment and Social Developments review provides evidence that the pandemic has affected people and regions in different ways. We must keep this in mind as we shape a recovery that is inclusive and sustainable. With major transitions still ahead, we need a labour market policy that favours mobility, gives all workers the best possible opportunity, creates quality jobs and helps companies to find the best skilled people.”

Publisher: European Commission

Publication