Last year, an additional two million women went into employment in the European Union, double the number of men that entered the labour market, according to a recent report.
The post-pandemic recovery in employment levels was faster for women than for men in the EU, the report "Recovery from COVID-19" published by Eurofound showed. In the last quarter of 2021, there were just over 2 million more women in employment compared to the same period in 2020, while there were just 1 million more men in employment.
However, while women overall benefitted more from the recovery in employment compared to men, this increase in employment was not observed evenly across wage levels.
While the increase in female employees in well-paid jobs was greater, acute job losses were recorded among women in low-paid jobs.
Employment on the up
Across all genders, there was a "comprehensive recovery" in employment in the EU last year following an initial sharp fall caused by the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
By the end of 2021, employment had almost recovered to pre-pandemic levels. In comparison, it took nearly eight years for this to happen after the global financial crisis. However, Eurofound stressed that, behind this comparatively quick recovery, is a significant change in the composition of employment.
While employment in accommodation and food service activities, wholesale and retail trade, and transport (all sectors that were heavily impacted by the fallout of the pandemic) registered a cumulative loss of 1.4 million workers between 2019 and 2021, the information and communications sector (occupations where telework is more feasible) added 1 million jobs during the same period.
"The pandemic has accelerated some pre-existing structural trends such as digitalisation, as well as leaving enduring employment scars on the in-person service sectors which have been acutely hit by social distancing restrictions," the report read.
Tackling chronic labour shortages
The report also referred to the fact that, for the first time in a generation, it is labour shortages rather than unemployment, or labour supply rather than demand, that is emerging as a greater concern for policymakers, and has already been recognised as a major challenge in Belgium.
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"The increase in labour market shortages in the aftermath of the pandemic highlights the need for effective social investment and active labour market policies that build skills and enhance access to employment," Eurofound Senior Research Manager John Hurley, said.
"Ensuring good-quality jobs, either through regulatory instruments or collective bargaining, can contribute to alleviating these labour shortages."
