What changes occurred due to COVID-19 in the job market?
In 2020, we saw a major change in the job market. The majority of the job opportunities declined due to the COVID-19 crisis. In this article, we will discuss the potential trend in the job market this year and the impact on the job market caused by COVID-19.
The COVID-19 crisis is having a bigger impact on some workers than others. For example, the young population and women are among those at greater risk of unemployment and financial crisis. They generally have less secure, unskilled jobs and are highly represented among workers in most affected industries by the pandemic, like tourism and restaurants. While millions have been put on temporary leave or moved onto reduced hours, millions of others have lost their jobs completely, with not much improvement in vision.
According to Forbes, most of the jobs lost in the hotel, aviation, airlines, cruise, oil and gas, colleges, restaurants, auto parts, leisure, and entertainment industries will not return in 2021. These industries were severely affected as they suffered huge losses. Therefore, if we look ahead, we can be certain that some new trends and drastic changes in the market will have an effect on your career or any job search you shall undertake. Work from home will continue to trend as we move to 2021, as the pandemic continues to haunt Canada. The high employee turnover rate will also continue throughout the year. The majority of employers need to control costs and could be struggling to keep the operations stable. In Canada, many retailers, small businesses, restaurants, and other stores continue to close.
What do you think about unemployment or job loss?
Unemployment or job loss will continue to force many jobless people to change careers because their industry remains troubled so it is hard for them to find any work in their own field. Therefore, adding new skills to the skillset, getting an in-demand license or certificate, going to graduate school, or finishing education etc. will be needed for people to transition into different careers and jobs. Unemployment amongst new graduates of 2021 will be high, same as 2020 graduates who enter 2021 still unemployed. Many of them are bound to become easily discouraged by the poor job market. Some may give up the job search and decide to attend graduate school or take a gap year instead.
Positive impact of COVID-19 on Job market?
On the positive side, in 2021 it is expected that the unemployment rate will be lower in comparison to 2020 as the job market will slowly recover from this grave situation. Although, the pandemic has left a huge dent in the job market which will take a long time for some industries to recover. A few careers may face an increase in job opportunities, like software developer jobs, nurse practitioner or registered nurses, computer specialists, financial services, electricians, construction jobs. People looking to work in these sectors will have a higher chance of getting employed in their field of interest than others. The health care jobs are in very high demand right now as the need for childcare workers, home support workers, registered nurses etc. during the pandemic has been consistently increasing. Moreover, there is an immigration program for health care workers to obtain permanent residence in Canada, which was made to meet the increasing demand for health care workers.
