The COVID-19 Era—Influencers of Uneven Sector Performance: A Canadian Perspective

Abstract

The study estimates the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market outcomes of major industrial sectors in Toronto, the largest urban centre in Canada. Using various economic data, we classify the sectors as distressed, stable, and those requiring ongoing monitoring. Furthermore, we estimate the expected impact of the pandemic shock using the Impulse Response Function (IRF) method. The results show an uneven impact of the pandemic with adverse outcomes for low-paying front-facing sectors, such as accommodation & food services and manufacturing. The post-pandemic projections show lingering negative implications for various sectors. The insights are helpful for policy recommendations, such as targeted responses to address the declines and structural changes in these sectors because of increasing technology adoption and the resulting labour market challenges.

COVID-19 and gender disparities: Labour market outcomes

“…A growing body of research indicates that the adverse effects were much more profound for frontline workers who were unlikely to transition to remote work along with those younger, women, unmarried, and with less education – leading to employment and wage disparities (Béland et al, 2020a.b; Rojas et al, 2020 ; Yasenov, 2020). The pandemic severely affected specific sectors, such as accommodation, travel, and retail, which led to a profound reduction in employment along with an increase in wage disparity ( Singh et al, 2022 ). These sectors predominantly employed part-time and female workers offering lower wages ( Antonie et al, 2020 ).…”

“…These sectors predominantly employed part-time and female workers offering lower wages ( Antonie et al, 2020 ). Due to these industries' rigidity and inflexibility in providing meaningful, reliable, and consistent remote work opportunities, women are more likely to be unable to find consistent employment because of pandemic-related disruptions ( Singh et al, 2022 ).…”