BRICS and the USA: Labor and Employment Support During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This article concerns labor and employment support policies undertaken by national governments in 2020-2022, during the global COVID-19 pandemic. It is focused on the experience of the BRICS countries but also highlights the labor and employment support policies in the USA, a country with one of the largest economies and advanced economic development. The COVID-19 outbreak has posed unprecedented challenges for all countries. The key objectives of all governments were to save human lives and prevent the spread of the infection. While the containment measures used by different countries were mostly similar, the programs and policies aiming to support workers were country-specific. The authors examine two types of labor support measures aimed at mitigation of the COVID-19 consequences: direct cash transfers to sustain workers’ incomes and business support activities. The analysis reveals that the success of these measures could depend, first, on how timely they were, second, whether they were in line with the long-term objectives in labour market development and, third, on the quality of governments’ collaboration with businesses and trade unions. The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a long shadow. As the BRICS countries plan to focus their labor and employment policies on high-quality jobs, human-centered development, inclusion and protection of workers’ rights they should address the consequences of COVID-19 together with other challenges, such as technological transformation, climate change and demographic issues.