COVID-19 and the world of work

Regional and country impact and policies

The latest regional and country research, assessments, guidelines and policy recommendations relating to COVID-19 and the world of work.
  1. Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean (Number 26): Real wages during the pandemic: trends and challenges

    16 June 2022

    This edition of the Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean report, jointly prepared twice-yearly by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) analyses the effects of and recovery from the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the region’s labor markets in 2021, spotlighting the evolution of real wages.

  2. The Next Normal: The changing Workplace in Africa – Ten Trends from the COVID-19 Pandemic that are Shaping Workplaces in Africa

    12 May 2022

    The destabilizing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have had dramatic social, economic and health effects across the African continent. Despite these challenging circumstances, many enterprises and their workers across the continent have taken a wide range of steps to adapt to this fluid environment. They have changed everything from the characteristics of their working space to their human resource strategies, and throughout it all have demonstrated great resilience and adaptability. To better understand these dynamics, the Bureau for Employers Activities of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the ILO Regional Office for Africa partnered with employer and business membership organizations (EBMOs) from across Africa to study these changes, enterprises’ views about them, and steps enterprises are taking in response to them.

  3. Rough seas: The impact of COVID-19 on fishing workers in South-East Asia

    19 April 2022

    This brief assesses the impacts of the pandemic on workers in the fishing industry in Asia and the Pacific, with particular attention to the pandemic’s impacts on migrant fishers.

  4. ILO Budapest Newsletter 2022 March

    24 March 2022

    This issue reports on the work of the ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe in Ukraine disrupted by the war, introduces a new project, programme results, several beneficiary stories, features fresh publications and new staff. Videos with Project Managers inform viewers about what the regional office undertook to improve work opportunities in Ukraine and Montenegro.

  5. 2021 Labour Overview, Latin America and the Caribbean - Executive Summary

    01 February 2022

    The 2021 Employment Outlook describes a mixed bag scenario for employment and suggests that pre-pandemic levels will be reached by 2023 or even 2024.

  6. Super Typhoon Rai (Odette): ILO response for decent work and a human-centred recovery

    05 January 2022

    Since Super Typhoon Rai (Odette) hit the Philippines, the ILO has been working with partners and communities to place decent work and sustainable livelihoods at the forefront of disaster-response for a human-centred recovery.

  7. Recovery and labour migration in the post-pandemic future

    17 December 2021

    Thematic background paper for the 14th ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour

  8. World Social Protection Report 2020–22: Regional companion report for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region

    30 November 2021

    This regional companion report for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is intended to complement the ILO’s World Social Protection Report 2021–22. Social Protection at the Crossroads – in Pursuit of a Better Future. The regional companion report first gives a global perspective that is taken from the main report and outlines recent developments in social protection systems worldwide. It then highlights key developments, challenges and priorities for social protection in the MENA region.

  9. Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean (Number 25): Policies to protect labour relations and hiring subsidies amid the COVID-19 pandemic

    30 November 2021

    This edition of the Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean report, jointly prepared twice-yearly by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) analyses the effects of the crisis caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the region’s labour markets during 2020 and 2021, and they stress the importance of the policies implemented by countries to mitigate this impact.

  10. COVID-19 and employment in the tourism sector in the Asia–Pacific region

    18 November 2021

    A brief from the ILO highlights COVID-19 impacts on tourism employment in Asia and the Pacific that have left the sector reeling from job losses, deterioration in work quality and shifts towards increased informality.