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.

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF CONSULTING IN A TRANSITIONAL ECONOMY IN THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN REGION DURING COVID-19

The consulting industry has been affected in many ways by the global pandemic. According to a leading international literature source (consultancy.org), the decline is most noticeable in Europe. In our article, we present the general recent trends of the global management consulting industry, and then outline the results of our survey conducted among Hungarian consultants. Our team surveyed the extent and direction in which consulting companies have been affected by the pandemic. Although some of the respondents reported rather negative effects, the survey finds that a significant proportion of respondents consider the emerging crisis as an opportunity and not only as a threat.

Consulting during the coronavirus in the light of an empirical survey in Hungary

Relatively little accurate information about management consulting and its market is available to interested readers. Therefore, in this article, we are committed to presenting the most important global trends from various sources, analyzing the main features of the development of the European, Central and Eastern European, as well as the Hungarian consulting markets. Among several other industries, the consulting sector has been affected negatively by the emergence of corona crisis. Consulting, characterized by stable growth and expansion before the pandemic, is estimated to have declined by 17-18 percent in 2020. However, different experts agree that consulting industry will recover faster from the current crisis than before. The pandemic has caused radical changes in the way we work and communicate, and consultants are ready to keep with the flow. One of the key questions of our empirical study in Hungary was the extent to which each consulting organization experienced an economically negative situation, the areas where there was a decrease or an increase, and the extent to which they see new opportunities for the future. Based on the results obtained, we found that the examined organizations were negatively affected by the crisis in terms of sales and services, but a significant part of the organizations also see new opportunities in the current situation for the future.

Possible discrimination in the workplace following acceptance or rejection of covid-19 vaccination – opinions of hungarian employees

Hungary is proud of Katalin Karikó, who was born in Hungary and educated at the University of Szeged, including a doctorate level. Later she moved to the United States where gained many practical experiences at several renowned universities as a professor. She has played a key role in the development of the COVID-19 vaccine. This national pride does not mean that every citizen of the country will accept the vaccine unconditionally, however. Their opinions are influenced by their political views, religious backgrounds, life experiences, and the country’s turbulent historical past;citizens fear various discriminatory measures. In the first part of our research, the importance of vaccinations and the Hungarian and European regulations are described, followed by the definition of discrimination. In the second section, we demonstrate that sometimes discrimination can be legal. The third part discusses the quantitative research that was conducted about the expected discrimination that can be considered legitimate or illegal. Our opinions are related to foreign travel and the activity of human resource management. © 2021, Institute of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. All rights reserved.