The COVID-19 pandemic wipe-out nearly everything, from human lives, social life, small businesses, as well as the labor market. Millions of people are unemployed, while others unexpectedly have to work from home as offices are closed. Those who have an essential role continued to work outside the home with uncollectible health risks.  

To assess some aspects of the post-pandemic economy, McKinsey&Company collected the data from China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States to find the answer about the lasting impact of the pandemic on labor demand, the mix of occupations, and the workforce skills in that countries. Additionally, they also look at the pandemic’s long-term consequences on spending and the possibility for a broad recovery led by enhanced productivity and innovation.

Jobs with the highest physical intimacy are likely to be most disrupted

Before COVID-19, the largest disruptions to work involved new technologies and growing trade links. After COVID-19, they raise the significance of the physical proximity side of work. In this research, they find a way to quantify the proximity required in more than 800 occupations by grouping them into ten work arenas according to their proximity to coworkers and customers, the number of interpersonal interactions involved, and their on-site and indoor nature.

During the pandemic, the virus most severely disturbed areas with the highest overall physical proximity scores: medical care, personal care, on-site customer service, and leisure and travel. In the longer term, work arenas with higher physical proximity scores are also likely to be more unsettled, although proximity is not the only explanation. For example, the on-site customer interaction arena includes frontline workers who interact with customers in retail stores, banks, and post offices, among other places. Work in this arena is defined by frequent interaction with strangers and requires on-site presence. Some work in this arena migrated to e-commerce and other digital transactions, a behavioral change that is likely to stick. While frontline workers interact with customers in retail stores, banks, and post offices, among other places. Work in this arena is defined by frequent interaction with strangers and requires on-site presence. Some work in this arena migrated to e-commerce and other digital transactions, a behavioral change that is likely to stick.
 

Companies and policymakers are expected to standing in the frontline to assist workforce transitions

Policymakers and businesses must begin to think beyond policies for the recovery and start on the task of building a future of work that is safer, fairer, greener, and more effective. They need to provide additional training and education programs for workers to confront this urgency. Seeing this as a hard situation for everyone, flexibility and adaptability from government and company are expected to control the waves.

Businesses can start with a granular analysis of what work can be done remotely by focusing on the tasks involved rather than whole jobs. Others have facilitated occupational shifts by focusing on the skills they need, rather than on academic degrees. Remote work also offers companies the opportunity to enrich their diversity by tapping workers who, for family and other reasons, were unable to relocate to the superstar cities where talent, capital, and opportunities concentrated before the pandemic. While policymakers could support businesses by expanding and enhancing the digital infrastructure. Even in advanced economies, almost 20 percent of workers in rural households lack access to the internet. Governments could also consider extending benefits and protections to independent workers and to workers working to build their skills and knowledge mid-career.

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