Coronavirus forced us to reassess our priorities. Closed at home for weeks, we had to deal with our economic situation and that of the whole country. Fortunately for many, not much has changed: smart working has allowed us to continue working, without necessarily pausing the career. For others, however, things went wrong. Some sectors suffer more than others from the lockdown, and will continue to suffer even after the gradual reopening.
Coronavirus puts 60 million workers at risk: 80% of these do not have a university degree. To say it is McKinsey’s study. The international consulting firm has highlighted the critical condition of some categories. From the analysis it emerged that the virus put professionals without a degree, with hiccup contracts, without any type of protection and with low earnings in serious difficulty. In short, this dark period for the history of the global economy will increase the gap already existing between rich and poor.
It does not end here. Employees in the sector of sales, customer service, retail, catering and hotel tourism, construction, community services, art and entertainment are the target of layoffs, salary and leave cuts. The risk increases for younger employees. To those who have not completed university studies are added workers between 15 and 24 years, who are more likely to be fired than employees belonging to other age groups.
The risk is lower for those who do not work in contact with the public or close to other colleagues: accountants, journalists, architects are safe. Even those who provide health or essential services are safe, even if in this case health is at risk.
The risk for those who work in contact with other people but not with the public is intermediate: machine operators, construction workers and psychologists.
After exposing the data for each sector, the study concludes by reiterating the risk for those who do not have an academic qualification:
Retail and the hotel and restaurant sector have respectively 14.6 million and 8.4 million jobs at risk: only 17% and 14% of employees in these sectors have an academic qualification. Otherwise, 52% of employees in the services sector have a university degree: a sector that has fewer places at risk (1.6 million).