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The Australian Labour Market and the Early Impact of COVID‐19: An Assessment

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  • Jeff Borland
  • Andrew Charlton

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeff Borland & Andrew Charlton, 2020. "The Australian Labour Market and the Early Impact of COVID‐19: An Assessment," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 53(3), pages 297-324, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:53:y:2020:i:3:p:297-324
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8462.12386
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. James Bishop & Michael Plumb, 2016. "Cyclical Labour Market Adjustment in Australia," RBA Bulletin (Print copy discontinued), Reserve Bank of Australia, pages 11-20, March.
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    4. Rebecca Cassells & Alfred Michael Dockery & Alan S Duncan & Daniel Kiely & Astghik Mavisakalyan, 2020. "Potential Job Losses in the COVID-19 Pandemic," Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Report series RB02, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School.
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    6. Lucia Foster & John C. Haltiwanger & C. J. Krizan, 2001. "Aggregate Productivity Growth: Lessons from Microeconomic Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: New Developments in Productivity Analysis, pages 303-372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    8. Rebecca Cassells & Alan S Duncan, 2020. "Job Keepers and Job Seekers: How many workers will lose and how many will gain?," Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre Report series RB03, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School.
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    Cited by:

    1. Peter Lloyd & Robert Dixon, 2021. "Modelling the Spread of the Coronavirus: A View from Economics," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 54(1), pages 36-56, March.
    2. Webster Allan & Khorana Sangeeta & Pastore Francesco, 2022. "The effects of COVID-19 on employment, labor markets, and gender equality in Central America," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 13(1), pages 1-43, January.
    3. Lianbiao Cui & Xiao Li & Shimei Weng & Madalina Brutu & Umer Shahzad, 2024. "Economic Costs of Work Stoppages Caused by the COVID-19 Outbreak," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 12026-12052, September.
    4. Jeff Borland & Michael Coelli, 2021. "Is It ‘Dog Days’ for the Young in the Australian Labour Market?," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 54(4), pages 421-444, December.
    5. James Brugler & Minsoo Kim & Zhuo Zhong, 2024. "Liquidity shocks and pension fund performance: Evidence from early access," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 49(2), pages 170-191, May.
    6. Thomas Astell-Burt & Xiaoqi Feng, 2021. "Time for ‘Green’ during COVID-19? Inequities in Green and Blue Space Access, Visitation and Felt Benefits," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-21, March.
    7. Masagus M. Ridhwan & Asep Suryahadi & Jahen F. Rezki & Immanuel Satya Pekerti, 2021. "The Labor Market Impact Of Covid-19 And The Role Of E-Commerce Development: Evidence From Indonesia," Working Papers WP/10/2021, Bank Indonesia.
    8. Wolter H. J. Hassink & Guyonne Kalb & Jordy Meekes, 2021. "Regional Coronavirus Hotspots During the COVID-19 Outbreak in the Netherlands," De Economist, Springer, vol. 169(2), pages 127-140, May.
    9. Ylber Aliu & Lavdim Terziu & Albulena Brestovci, 2022. "Covid-19 and Labour Market in Kosovo," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 4, pages 77-92.
    10. Allan Webster & Sangeeta Khorana & Francesco Pastore, 2021. "The labour market impact of COVID-19: early evidence for a sample of enterprises from Southern Europe," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 43(4), pages 1054-1082, November.
    11. Guay Lim & Viet Nguyen & Tim Robinson & Sarantis Tsiaplias & Jiao Wang, 2021. "The Australian Economy in 2020–21: The COVID‐19 Pandemic and Prospects for Economic Recovery," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 54(1), pages 5-18, March.

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