The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Employment: Analysis on Different Occupations with Automation and Telework Feasibility

Abstract

This paper uses Labour Force Survey (LFS) data to assess the impact of COVID-19 across occupations depending on their potential for automation and telework. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a drastic decrease in the employment rate, the number of hours worked and a surge in the unemployment rate and the absences from work. However, the impact differs substantially across occupations. The findings show that it is not the occupations with the highest automation feasibility that suffers the most significant decrease in employment probability, but rather those with slightly lower automation feasibility. The higher telework feasibility occupations saw a smaller decrease in employment probability than the occupations with low telework feasibility.