Workers under 25 hit hardest by coronavirus crisis

Workers under 25 hit hardest by coronavirus crisis
Credit: Belga

Workers under 25 are the hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis, according to a survey by HR specialist SD Worx published on Tuesday.

The young workers are most likely to work in sectors with the highest incidence of temporary unemployment. Since the beginning of the crisis, under-25s have been on average 40% more time temporarily unemployed than the average Belgian.

In February, young people were temporarily unemployed on 5.6% of days worked. They were also the most likely to stay at home last year, with an average of 7.99% temporary unemployment out of the total number of days worked.

Overall, the lower the age, the higher the temporary unemployment. The only exception is the over-60s, who are the second most temporarily unemployed age group, but far behind the youngest (at 4.22%). In the 24-29 age group, this figure falls to 4.08%.

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The plight of young people is explained by the crisis hitting the sectors where they are most active. "In this age group we have a high proportion of young people without higher education who are more often employed in sectors that have suffered greatly from the crisis," said Jean-Luc Vanneuwenhuyse of SD Worx.

Examples include hairdressing and beauty care, hotels and restaurants, cleaning, food trade, the socio-cultural sector, garages, landscaping and garden maintenance and ground handling at airports.

The SD Worx report is based on the salary data of 70,000 employers and almost one million Belgian employees.

The Brussels Times


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