Covid-19 impact on the employment conditions of women, youth, people with disabilities, and atypical workers

Abstract

Covid-19 shook humanity thoroughly and in a unique manner. The virus rapidly left a deep impact on human civilisation across the globe unlike anything in living memory, affecting countries irrespective of their political, socio-economic, or other circumstances. Many studies have examined the varied and complex effects of the pandemic, since Covid-19 was first discovered at the end of 2019 in China. Part of the research focused on the impact on employment and the lives of workers. Important common themes emerged across countries such as “pandemic preparedness, public health interventions, lockdowns, economic support... and vaccinations” (Kistnasamy, 2022). The experience of similar challenges led many countries to adopt broadly similar strategies and approaches to manage the initial months of the crisis. In particular, there were widespread lockdowns or other social and employment restrictions, leading to a slowdown of the world economy, the disruption of industries, the breaking down of supply chains, and employment loss or increased precarity. At the same time, research on the pandemic exposed profound power (political), economic, and health disparities among different social groups (e.g. Gwynn, 2021; Olayo-Méndez, 2021). The work situation of different social groups is based on systematic inequalities such as the employment sectors in which they work, and their access to housing, transportation, healthcare, and social safety-nets (Olayo-Méndez, 2021). Thus, while the threat posed by Covid-19 has impacted everyone, not everyone ended up in the same proverbial boat, as the ultimate impact of the pandemic on individuals greatly depended on their country’s economy, the social structure in which they lived and the social privilege they held. This study focuses on the effects of Covid-19 on the organisation and conditions of work of different social groups in Malta, in particular women, youth, person with disabilities (PWDs), and a-typical workers. Rather than just examining the experiences of the initial stages of the pandemic, the study seeks to understand better how such experiences developed and how people adjusted over the first two and a half years. By shedding light on the evolving work experiences and attitudes of different social groups, this study aims to assist trade unions in focusing their efforts and increasing their relevance and impact on collective bargaining and social dialogue. The issue of vulnerability is a key thread underpinning this study as it acts as a common denominator to a variety of impacts that the pandemic had on many groups of people in Malta. It should also be stressed that individuals’ level of vulnerability may increase due to the interaction of different demographic characteristics (such as age, gender, disabilities, race and so on), a phenomenon known as ‘intersectionality’. Thus different social groups might experience varying levels of vulnerability, even when they might share the same type of job (e.g. Llop-Girones et al., 2021). This document consists of six chapters, comprising of a brief review of literature, a methodology, a chapter illustrating the quantitative results, an analysis and discussion chapter of all empirical research, and a conclusion. The literature review briefly discusses the context of this research and some relevant findings on the main themes of interest. The methodology describes how focus groups, a survey and interviews were carried out to collect empirical data between April and September 2022. The results chapter examines data through descriptive and inferential statistics, with the assistance of relevant tables. The analysis and discussion chapter investigates and interprets the main quantitative and qualitative findings in the Maltese context. The concluding chapter includes recommendations to trade unions on how to manage the changes brought about by Covid-19.