Job loss growth in the Province has slowed
The influence of the Coronavirus pandemic on the economy of the province of Drenthe appears to be smaller than feared, partly due to aid measures introduced by the Dutch government. Unemployment growth is smaller than a few months ago, reports RTV Drenthe.
After a sharp increase in the number of unemployment benefit applications after the outbreak of the Coronavirus, numbers have been leveling off for several months.
Erik Oosterveld, labor market advisor at the UWV, explains: “Two conclusions can be drawn from the constant decline. On the one hand, the support measures from the government have prevented many redundancies. On the other hand, the redundancies tend to fall in the temporary employment sector. On-call and temporary workers are on average only on unemployment benefits for a short time.”
2020 has been a turbulent year, according to Oosterveld: “A smoothly running economy has come to a complete standstill. We were able to absorb that blow reasonably well. The support measures will be phased out in the coming period. As a result, we expect many more redundancies to follow.”
The Coronavirus’ economic affects are reducing lots of peoples chances of getting a job. Although that differs per sector, according to Oosterveld: “Hospitals and supermarkets, for example, are busier than ever, while nothing is happening in the hospitality industry at the moment.”
Compared to last year, 590 more benefits claimants are currently being paid. This is due to the increase during the initial period after the outbreak.
Image: a Jobcentre Plus in the UK. Via Wikimedia user J J Ellison. License here.
