According to a research report among OECD countries, the most disadvantaged nations during the coronavirus pandemic have been identified. The COVID-19 outbreak continues to cause unemployment and income problems around the world, and it is expected to highlight regional inequalities in employment. The latest OECD report shows that Turkey is the country with the greatest regional employment inequality when comparing how badly different countries were hit by the pandemic.
Turkey’s broad-definition unemployment rate rose to 29.3 percent, calling into question the relevance of the official unemployment figures published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK). The OECD report highlights how disadvantaged Turkey is in terms of regional employment inequality. Among OECD member countries, Turkey stands out as having the deepest gaps in employment across its regions.
High Unemployment Figures in the East
The OECD employment report shows that the gap between Turkey’s strongest and weakest employment regions exceeds 19 percentage points. Following Turkey on the list are Italy, Greece, Austria and Spain. In Turkey, unemployment in the Southeastern and Eastern Anatolia regions reaches around 25 percent even by TÜİK’s own figures. The OECD analysis also examined the global impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The pandemic is estimated to put between 15 and 35 percent of employment at risk worldwide.
The report notes that tourism destinations and large cities are particularly vulnerable to unemployment risks. It also points out that in roughly 30 percent of the OECD area—largely rural regions—the labor force has contracted over the past decade. On pandemic-driven unemployment, the OECD warns that lower-skilled, lower-income workers and young people will be the hardest hit, and that the crisis may leave long-lasting negative effects on these groups. The report also warns that school and childcare closures during quarantines could have enduring adverse effects on female employment. Several OECD countries are preparing active labor policies to support women’s participation in the workforce and mitigate falling employment rates among women.
Number of Discouraged Workers Is Rising
The report also highlights that discouraged workers—those not counted in official unemployment statistics because they are not actively applying for jobs—are likely to rise faster due to the pandemic. According to a DİSK-AR study, the number of discouraged workers in Turkey increased from 613,000 to 1,331,000 over the past year. The OECD emphasizes the need for strong, timely action in the post-pandemic period and offers several illustrative examples. In Sweden, airline cabin crew at risk of losing their jobs received stress-management training and were re-deployed to assist medical staff. Australia launched local employment mobilization programs, and the UK introduced additional incentives for employers to hire people under 25.
Remote Work Is Becoming More Common
The OECD employment report notes that during the first wave of pandemic lockdowns in early 2020, the average rate of people working from home in OECD countries rose to about 39 percent. Despite regional differences, the organization estimates that only around 15 percent of existing jobs can be performed permanently from home. The report’s analysis of Turkey suggests that the share of jobs that can be done remotely could reach as high as 45 percent in Istanbul. By comparison, London was identified as the city with the highest current potential for remote work, at about 55 percent.