Fuzzy-based Telework Capability Evaluation Using AppSheet-based Mobile Application

By the beginning of 2020, the illness had been named as COVID-19, which had spread due to its extreme severity affecting multiple industries and sectors throughout the world. To protect the public's health and safety, the Philippine government has established a number of quarantine regulations and travel restrictions in reaction to the current COVID-19 outbreak. Nonetheless, the ILO predicted that the pandemic would initially disrupt the economy and labor markets, affecting 11 million employees, or around 25% of the workforce in the Philippines. Therefore, the government continues to urge employers of local companies and enterprises to use alternative work plans, such as a WFH - work-from-home operation in accordance with the established policies. In line with the concept of telework, several studies have already been carried out, though some were declared inconclusive and require additional study. Hence, in this research, a mobile application was created to evaluate the employee's telework capability assessment using a Fuzzy-based model which utilizes Google AppSheet, Apps Script, and Sheets. The developed mobile application is able to provide capacity evaluation utilizing the four key input variables, which are also reasonably characterized for potential telecommuting cost evaluation. © 2022 IEEE.

Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on unemployment in selected countries and country groups

The economic crisis caused by Covid-19 differs from previous economic crises in several ways. It is a global event that developed unexpectedly and hit the world unprepared, primarily attacking human resources, requiring strong governmental measures. The involvement of the human sphere directly affected people's income and lives through labour market effects. Based on literature and statistical data, this study analyses the evolution of the unemployment data of 11 countries (Australia, Chile, the UK, Israel, Japan, China, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and the US) and two country groups (EU-27 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD) during the economic crisis. Based on the results, the authors identified three distinct groups of countries with 1. moderate growth, slow consolidation;2. robustious upturn, fast then slow correction, and 3. individual patterns. The study demonstrated how government measures took effect differently from the unemployment perspective. The authors referred to the influence of the inhabitants' collective way of thinking and considered it essential to emphasise the positive impact of vaccines.

Direct selling: tackling the challenge of women's inclusion within the base of the pyramid (BOP) labour market during COVID era

The exclusion of women from the labour market continues to be one of the leading causes of poverty within the base of pyramid (BOP) labour market. Using Kabeer's women empowerment framework, this research aggregates some support that direct selling may be a pathway to increase the inclusion of women within the BOP labour market and alleviate poverty;the complexities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic provide a unique context to test this proposition. Drawing on the social constructivist approach, we conducted semi-structured interviews with women engaged in direct selling in the BOP market in a Middle Eastern country. The study revealed four key themes throughout the participants' narratives of their experience working in direct selling businesses within the context of COVID-19. These themes are agency, resources, achievement, and precarious work. Our study also explored how the pandemic facilitated the female labour force's inclusion within the direct selling business in the BOP labour market. We concluded that engaging in direct selling has promoted the inclusion of women in labour markets;however, direct selling is still not considered a secure employment option, and direct sellers are exposed to poor pay, employment insecurity, and lack of employment benefits.

Examining labour market hierarchies in Slovakia from the perspective of intra-EU migration and return

This paper applies the concept of hierarchised mobility to study return migration in Slovakia in the context of the country's EU accession. The analysis is based on the national Labour Force Survey dataset, covering a decade of labour migration and return between the 2008/2009 financial crisis and the Covid pandemic, concentrating in particular on the short-term labour market outcomes for less skilled return migrants. It is found that even under improved economic conditions, patterns of labour mobility set in the aftermath of the EU's Eastern enlargement continued to persist, together with structural inequalities in the Slovak labour market. Returnees in Slovakia face a markedly higher unemployment rate relative to stayers, and are less likely to be self-employed shortly after their return to Slovakia, compared to stayers or migrants. Returnees were also more exposed to instability in their jobs than migrants and stayers. From this perspective, return migration itself is a reflection of hierarchised mobility, as returnees clearly occupy the least stable jobs, and are the most exposed to instability in their employment. It appears that migration patterns from and to Slovakia are ingrained within the broader functioning of the European labour market.

Youth Unemployment, Education and Job Training: An Analysis of PLFS Data in India

This paper highlights the changes in the unemployment rate across different age cohorts among young people in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study observes that the youth unemployment rate increased at a much higher rate in urban areas both for male and female youth during the initial phase of pandemic. To understand the severity of the effects of pandemic on unemployment across different age groups among the youth, this study enquires into the nature and causes of unemployment among them. The probit estimates of unemployment function for the youth reveals that the likelihood of youth being unemployed is less in upper age cohorts within the young age range. An inverse relationship is observed between general education and employment among the youth in the Indian youth labour market. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

Enhancing Employer Attractiveness: The Impact of COVID-19 on Generation Z

This paper investigates how employer attractiveness has been affected by developments in the attitudes, values, and goals of Generation Z (born between 1995-2010) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Research shows the challenging environment for employers who are increasingly facing a 'war for talent' and the need to focus on generational needs and expectations. Work concepts in many cases have been adapted to Generation Y, but a revision of strategies is needed for the newest generation on the labour market. The insurance industry has long struggled to attract young talent and along with retail, logistics, tourism, and banking has been ranked the lowest in employer attractiveness by Generation Z. This is corroborated by the fact that larger corporations are also often perceived as unattractive by young people. While many industries have struggled with the consequences and challenges of the pandemic, the insurance sector can be seen as having mastered the crisis comparatively well. This paper questions whether the relative job security offered by the insurance sector, can be increasingly influential in post pandemic job choices. Since Generation Z was already described as securityoriented before the pandemic, this is expected to have increased as a result of COVID-19 and be reflected in their career and employer choices. The perspectives of Generation Z and employers from the German insurance industry are compared through survey and interview data. The young cohort suspects a worsening of their situation particularly in job offerings and security. At the same time, the insurance industry positions itself well in exactly these areas. Furthermore, the aspirations and expectations of Generation Z towards the professional world coincide strongly with the offerings of insurers as employers. However, the respondents see the sector's image as a deterrent. Although this paper focuses on the insurance industry, strategic recommendations given on how the sector can position itself, are relevant for other sectors facing the challenge of attracting Generation Z employees. © 2022 Authors. All rights reserved.

Solidarity During Crises. The Importance of Welfare State Solidarity in Times of Crisis

This paper examines the crisis-specific impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on welfare state solidarity during the first wave of infection and the first lockdown from March to May 2020. We combine a sociological understanding of solidarity in the context of the welfare state with sociological reflections on crisis-specific solidarity and a differentiation-theoretical perspective on institutional change. By means of a structuring content analysis of the Bundestagsplenarprotokolle, an intra-parliamentary solidarity pressure is traced that leads to crisis-specific Vergemeinschaftung. Through the qualitative analysis of the parliamentary debates, we also clarify the temporary limitation of this connection, which made the resumption of party-political solidarity conflicts possible in the first place after the successful reconstitution of a common normative basis of the members of parliament. On a further level, we elaborate the stabilizing function of welfare state solidarity as an normative guiding idea (Leitidee), which also exerts its effect in conflictual negotiations of social policy measures.

The attachment of adult women to the Italian labour market in the shadow of COVID-19.

We investigate the attachment to the labour market of women in their 30s, who are combining career and family choices, through their reactions to an exogenous, and potentially symmetric shock, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that in Italy a large number of women with small children, living in the North, left permanent (and temporary) employment and became inactive in 2020. Despite the short period of observation after the burst of the pandemic, the identified impacts appear large and persistent, particularly with respect to the men of the same age. We argue that this evidence is ascribable to specific regional socio-cultural factors, which foreshadow a potential long-term detrimental impact on female labour force participation.

Rights awareness and COVID-19 tourism job losses: perspectives from Malaysia

This qualitative study applies the labour market segmentation theory to examine tourism job losses through the indirect causes of pay cuts, unpaid leave and the take-up of side hustle–accepted by the employees partly from loyalty, camaraderie and empathy. Where the prolonged hardship from these measures leads to resignations, employers gain from the avoidance of termination benefits mandated by a retrenchment exercise. The losses occasioned to the worker include the non-eligibility for state-funded wage subsidy and foregone termination benefits. Through a legal analysis of COVID-19 job losses, the study posits that tourism workers' lack of rights awareness contributed to the voluntary acceptance of these lawful but detrimental strategies. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Working (and Living) During Corona Times and Implications for Planning and Mobility—The Case of Norway

The COVID-19 pandemic has relatively affected the Norwegian context and other Nordic countries (except for Sweden), considering the prudential authorities and policies adopted during the various waves of the virus. The capacity for remote working and high flexibility of working (already observed before the pandemic) have contributed to adapt to the changes. In this context, the study aims to explore the ways of working and living during the Corona Times and the implications for planning and mobility in Norway, considering the short-medium and long-term effects of the pandemic. First, the study presents an overview of the main impacts of the pandemic in the Nordic countries (such as mortality, labour market and absence from work, including the closure of workplaces), and second, it focuses on Norway, in light of the national measures. Then, the working related trends (for example, growth of demand of new working spaces and the increased number of workers in the public libraries) are discussed, as well as the major implications for our cities, such as new housing demands, commuting habits and transportation modes. Finally, an overview of the current debate within the Norwegian society shows the high interests of planners, other experts, and media in understanding the future of work, such as hybrid forms, new jobs, working remotely (but from where?). © 2023, The Author(s).

Formation of Digital Skills of Personnel in the Cooperative Sector of the Economy in the Face of New Challenges

Industry 4.0 is the central topic of numerous publications by foreign and Russian scientists, most of which are conceptual in nature. The current labor market requires the formation of new competencies and skills demanded in the digital economy. Digital reality dictates the need to develop new competencies—digital skills. Knowledge of computer technology, the use of software, and programming have become essential. For most organizations worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digitalization and adoption of digital ways of working. The development of new forms of employment (remote and combined) using digital technology will contribute to positive changes in the labor market. Based on these trends in the digital transformation of current society, the research aims to examine the digital skills of employees in the cooperative sector of the economy and their demand in the labor market in the context of Industry 4.0. The authors use descriptive statistical methods to process official data from the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation and the Higher School of Economics. The research indicates that the transformation of the labor market and forms of employment requires the development of new competencies demanded in Industry 4.0. In the digital economy, employment opportunities increasingly depend on a person's digital skills and competencies. This paper is one of the first comprehensive studies of the changing labor conditions, working environment, and the emergence of new competencies in Industry 4.0. This research contributes to the problem of studying digital skills as a component of human capital and can be the basis for further research in this subject area. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Dynamics and Regional Features of Labour Market Recovery During COVID-19

The imbalance between labour supply and demand, both by types of economic activity and by professional groups, differs in Russian regional labour markets, causing long-term unemployment and impoverishment of the population. The article examines the transformation of the labour market, regional characteristics of market failures and its recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on sample surveys of the labour force conducted by the Federal State Statistics Service, we determined monthly unemployment dynamics and, subsequently, the vulnerability and instability of regional labour markets. It is hypothesised that the stronger the contraction of employment and the greater the unemployment, the longer the process of labour market recovery during the pandemic;regions recover from the crisis at different speeds. Indicators of the intensity of labour market failures and its recovery are proposed. Since the pandemic is a peculiar phenomenon that affected the economy and society, human behaviour in the labour market, the concept of excessive unemployment was used (the difference between actual unemployment and its pre-pandemic level). We performed a correlation analysis of the relations between labour market failures and its recovery in four groups of regions characterised by different labour market fluctuations. The calculated Spearman's coefficients showed a positive relationship between the indicators. The depth of labour market failures and its recovery rate in regions with developed infrastructure, attracting labour migrants, are revealed. A positive relationship was established between the unemployment dynamics and the increase in vacancy rate reported by employers to employment agencies, increase in the average monthly salary. This article presents the results of the first research stage. Further studies will expand the time series of employment and unemployment in order to identify long-term trends and build a forecasting model. © 2023 Institute of Economics, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Long-term dynamics of informal employment and its relationship with the poverty of the Russian population against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic

The study aims at assessing the prevalence of informal employment in the Russian labour market and evaluating its relationship with the risks of monetary poverty. Empirically, the study bases on the data of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS HSE) for 2000-2020. Calculations have shown that over the past 20 years, on average, about a quarter of Russian employees were included in the informal labour market for their main or secondary employment. The results of the study provide some evidence on the existence of several zones of informality in the Russian labour market, in which there are different motives for deformalization, in particular: low-skilled employment in the informal sector, employment only in the format of informal part-time / side jobs ("casual employment”) and partial departure to the informal sector while maintaining an official employment contract at the main place of work. Employment with part or all of the pay for the main job received informally — that is, without a formal contract or with declared wages below the actual wage received, in violation of current regulations — is more common among men, young people and people of early working age, and as well as citizens with education below vocational secondary. At the same time, women, people aged 30–49, and citizens with vocational secondary education predominate in the structure of informally employed, although with a slight preponderance. Regression analysis shows that there is a statistically significant relationship between involvement in the informal labour market and the risks of monetary poverty: fully informal employment in 2019 is associated with higher chances of the respondent's household falling into poverty, and with lower chances in 2020.

A tripartite understanding of experiences of young apprentices: A case study of the London Borough of Hounslow.

In 2019, a decline in apprenticeship starts prompted the London Borough of Hounslow to make an apprenticeship pledge in its Corporate Plan 2019-2024, committing to create 4,000 new apprenticeships and training opportunities to help young people into work. This article investigates experiences of young apprentices in Hounslow before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Exploring the perspectives of two apprentices, two employers and one training provider in a small-scale qualitative study, the authors identify key hindering and supporting factors affecting entry into and sustainability of apprenticeships, and progression towards professional employment. They found that labour market entry was intensely hindered by competition (with peers who had better maths and English qualifications, for a small number of apprenticeships) and organisational barriers (such as managers with prejudices against young people, stigmatising apprentices and apprenticeships). Supportive factors identified include personal characteristics (such as a positive mindset, enabling young people to persevere despite a disadvantaged socioeconomic background and lack of family support, for example) and supportive relationships (e.g. mentoring) between apprentices and their training providers or employers.

Compréhension tripartite des expériences de jeunes apprentis : étude de cas réalisée dans le quartier londonien de Hounslow ­ En 2019, un déclin du nombre de nouveaux contrats d'apprentissage a poussé le quartier londonien de Hounslow à prendre un engagement en faveur de l'apprentissage dans son plan 2019­2024 pour les entreprises, dans lequel il s'engageait à créer 4 000 places d'apprentissage et possibilités de formation pour aider les jeunes à entrer dans la vie active. Cet article se penche sur les expériences de jeunes apprentis à Hounslow avant et pendant la pandémie de COVID-19. Les auteurs ont examiné les points de vue de deux apprentis, de deux employeurs et d'un prestataire de formations dans une étude qualitative à petite échelle et ont identifié des facteurs décisifs freinant ou favorisant l'accession aux apprentissages, la viabilité de ces derniers et le parcours des apprentis vers l'emploi. Ils ont constaté que l'entrée sur le marché du travail était fortement freinée par la concurrence (avec des pairs mieux qualifiés en mathématiques et en anglais qui postulaient pour un nombre restreints de place d'apprentissage) et par des obstacles organisationnels (par exemple des managers qui avaient des préjugés à l'égard des jeunes, qui stigmatisaient les apprentis et les apprentissages). Parmi les facteurs favorables qu'ils ont identifiés, notons les traits de caractère personnels (par exemple un état d'esprit positif permettant aux jeunes de persévérer malgré leur milieu socio-économique défavorisé et l'absence de soutien de leur famille) et les relations de soutien (par exemple le mentorat) entre les apprentis et leurs prestataires de formation ou leurs employeurs.

Local Labour Market Outcomes of Educational Migration

Thus far, the majority of studies have focused on international student migration. Less attention has been paid to internal migration for tertiary education and even less to local effects caused by this category of migration. To redress this limitation, the paper determines the most important consequences of internal migration for university enrolment in the local labour market of a university city. This is shown through the example of the Polish university city with one of the highest student-to-population ratios - Opole. The study is based on the literature review and the result of qualitative and quantitative research conducted in Opole. The first was conducted among students and the second among owners and employees of local enterprises. Findings of the research suggest that the inflow of students to the university city can lead to shortrun and long-run effects on the local economy. Findings of the research suggest that in the short run the inflow of students to the university city leads to structurally important changes in the labour supply and creates new jobs. In the long run, it leads to permanent changes in labour resources, attracts investors to the city and causes permanent changes in the labour demand. The analysed outcomes of migration for tertiary education are only a small but vital part of the consequences of education migration. The global spread of the coronavirus has also stressed the importance of educational migrants in university cities. The impact of pandemic COVID-19 on university cities should be the subject of future research.

Who is brave enough to start a new business during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Purpose: Since introducing the UK start-up loan (SUL) Scheme in 2012, 82,809 new start-ups have been supported with loans totalling £759m. Even during the Covid-19 crisis, new business start-ups supported by SUL did not abate. The authors ask whether the entrepreneurs starting businesses during the Covid-19 crisis were different from those becoming entrepreneurs before the pandemic. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned question. Design/methodology/approach: The authors model the differences between pre-Covid-19 business start-ups and Covid-19 start-ups. The administrative data obtained from the UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) represent information about individual loan records for 82,798 individuals and total lending of £759m between 2012 and 2021. The probit regression model with dependent variable coded one if the start occurred after February 2020 and zero between 2012 and February 2020, was estimated. Findings: The study's findings show that both groups of entrepreneurs differ in many facets. The new Covid-19 entrepreneurs are older, more likely to have a graduate-level education and are significantly more likely to make this transition from full-time waged employment or inactivity. Furthermore, they are more likely to set up in manufacturing industries at the business level than their pre-Covid-19 counterparts who favoured service sectors. Finally, their initial lending to support the start-up is much higher. Originality/value: This study provides value for the policymakers responsible for the administration of the SUL scheme, and it also contributes to the body of knowledge on the effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

The Role of Personal Characteristics in Shaping Gender-Biased Job Losses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of South Africa

This paper contributes to the literature on the effects of adverse economic conditions on gender differences in the labour market by assessing how COVID-19, a global trigger for a critical adverse condition, impacted gender differences in the labour market in a country with pronounced discrimination and inequality in the labour market. In fact, the paper investigates how the personal characteristics of women and men affected their likelihood of losing jobs during and before COVID-19 in South Africa. Using the database of the National Income Dynamics Study-Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) and NIDS wave 5 dataset and based on logit regression, the paper finds that personal characteristics such as tertiary education had a negative effect on job losses among females. Moreover, the results show that, compared to male workers, female workers were the most affected by the pandemic due to the lockdown regulation that affected many households' behaviour.

Action, Reaction and Resignation: How Refugee Women and Support Organisations Respond to Labour Market Integration Challenges during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Even without the impact of a global pandemic, refugee women face obstacles to their integration into the labour market. Complex integration challenges are situated across different, yet interwoven, levels. These include restrictive policies at the institutional level, limited funding for support measures at the organisational level and a lack of skills at the individual level. Many of these are gendered and specifically affect women. Some might be further intensified by Covid-19. However, the pandemic's effect on the labour market integration of refugee women has yet to be explored. This paper examines specific challenges support organisations and refugee women have faced during the pandemic and their responses to these. Following a process perspective, we utilise a qualitative methods approach with semi-structured interviews. We collected our data in Austria, a European country that hosts numerous refugees and has an elaborate support network. Results show that the external shock of the pandemic amplified the importance of developing digital skills to support post-pandemic labour market integration. In addition, the pandemic exacerbated challenges for refugee women and support organisations. This led to ‘action', ‘reaction' and ‘resignation' responses. We discuss these, and provide avenues for further research and practice. © 2023 The Authors

COVID-19 and labour market resilience: evidence from large-scale recruitment behaviour

We construct a theoretical model to interpret the structural shock from the COVID-19 pandemic and the response of local labour market and industry specialization. The empirical study takes the large-scale online labour market of China to analyse firms' hiring demand for 20 industries across 380 cities with monthly recruitment data from May 2017 to September 2020. Post-event quantitative analysis on job postings and employer demand highlighted that the pandemic resulted in an unemployment shock and industry- and city-level redistribution of the worker. China's local job market resilience also revealed a regional imbalance, correlated with pandemic risk, city scale and industry structure. © 2023 Regional Studies Association.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Labour Market in the Hotel Industry: Selected Conditions in Poland

Examining selected aspects of labour market performance in the Polish tourism sector can extend our knowledge of hotel company attitudes in connection with COVID-19. The aims of this article are to present selected determinants of labour market performance in the Polish tourism sector (with particular emphasis on the hotel industry) in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic and to address the following research question: how did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the functioning of hotel companies in the key tourist region of Poland—Zachodniopomorskie province? The research methods used in the study included critical analysis of source literature, survey method, correspondence analysis method, and analysis of primary and secondary data, mainly from official statistics. The survey was conducted in January 2022. Information was collected from 129 respondents using surveys. The results of the research presented in the article reveal that the observed long-term upward trend in the national labour market has been halted by the pandemic and that (among the various accommodation facilities) hotels are the most vulnerable to changes in the tourism labour market. The authors' contributions to the literature are the identification of the extent to which businesses from the hotel industry have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the determination of the impact of the pandemic on selected employment-related aspects of business operations in Zachodniopomorskie province. © 2023 by the authors.