Employment in the accommodation and services sector fell, but the number of employees in trade, information and communications grew in the first year of the pandemic, according to a study by the Institute of Economic Sciences in Belgrade
The research examines the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, so the comparison compares the data between 2019 and 2020.
The number of workers working permanently has increased, the number of informal and formal workers who do not have a permanent job has decreased in 2020 by about 10 percent and 6 percent, respectively. The main reason for this reduction was the low availability of informal and non-permanent jobs in 2020, the statement said.
One of the consequences of the crisis caused by the pandemic was the increase in inequality in employment opportunities for the low-educated, young people, especially in the region of Southeast Serbia. These vulnerable groups, even before the pandemic began, had significantly lower employment rates than the rest of the population, and this gap widened after the first year of the pandemic.
Some workers’ rights, such as the right to adequate rest, full compensation during illness from the COVID-19 virus and adequate working conditions, were not sufficiently respected during the pandemic.
The results of the research indicate that during the first year of the pandemic, there were no mechanisms to protect the stability of the income of informal workers and formal workers who do not have a permanent job. On the other hand, measures to support companies, which undoubtedly had a positive impact on the economy and had a significant impact on the survival of some companies, should have been adjusted earlier to which sector was most endangered by the crisis, Kamatica reports.
