work

While digitalization has been advancing in many aspects of human life, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated changes in workplaces, trade, doing business, healthcare, education, public administration, and many other spheres.

It has been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the globe and completely transformed the way we think, behave, and work. It has had a great impact on our daily lives – and an even a greater one on the work that we did in the past.

The second lockdown in Lithuania is no different from the first one: there are no clear principles for economic relief, individual groups are fighting for their own interests, and the government is forced to constantly alleviate the emerging effects of the quarantine. But what if lockdowns persisted?

Prior to the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak, the Lithuanian economy had been enjoying a rapid growth. Yet, while the number of available jobs had been increasing, the number of unemployed had remained steadily high.

When we talk about wages in Slovakia, we refer to gross wage. From an economic point of view, however, it is a fictitious value created by accountants. It represents an arbitrarily set point between the two key values: net wage and labor costs.

The European Commission (EC) has published a study on working conditions of platform workers. Platform work is understood as all labor provided through, on, or mediated by online platforms in a wide range of sectors.

Institute of Economic and Social Studies (INESS) introduced the Bureaucracy Index in Slovakia in 2016 aiming to draw the attention to the amount of red tape a small entrepreneur has to comply with on a daily basis.

The European Commission has proposed options for possible EU action addressing the challenges related to fair minimum wages in the EU. The initiative has a general objective to ensure that all workers in the EU are protected by fair minimum wages, allowing for a decent living wherever they work.

In light of COVID-19 governments around the globe are juggling between ensuring business liquidity and preserving workplaces. Most countries have taken the approach of increasing regulations and tailoring them to the topicalities.

Crises, particularly so severe as the one we are currently facing, have the inevitable habit of redefining the way our economic life works. The way people work, as well as the very labor market itself, will undergo significant changes.