The Australian Labour Market and the Early Impact of COVID‐19: An Assessment
Jeff Borland, Andrew Charlton
Abstract
Abstract From March to June 2020 was the most dramatic four months in the history of the Australian labour market. Never before has a such a substantial decrease in labour demand (and partial reversal) occurred so quickly. In this article, we present an overview of the early impact of COVID‐19: the main drivers it brought into play and the consequent labour market developments. Aggregate effects and how impacts differed by type of job and worker are described. We conclude with a brief review of the main government response to COVID‐19, the JobKeeper program.
Topics & Concepts
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)Government (linguistics)2019-20 coronavirus outbreakSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)EconomicsLabour economicsLabour supplyPandemicDemographic economicsMedicineDiseasePhilosophyVirologyPathologyLinguisticsOutbreakInfectious disease (medical specialty)Employment and Welfare StudiesLabor market dynamics and wage inequalityCOVID-19 Pandemic Impacts