## Window for Change

_IMF Blog, December 1, 2020_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Window for Change](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2020/12/01/window-for-change)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/blogs/articles/2020/12/01/window-for-change/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/blogs/articles/2020/12/01/window-for-change/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/blogs/articles/2020/12/01/window-for-change/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Gita Bhatt
- Published: December 1, 2020

---

### Context and framing
- Author: Gita Bhatt
- Publication date: December 1, 2020
- Theme: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated policy change, technology adoption, and new ways of working and learning, creating an urgent opportunity—a "window for change"—to reshape jobs and economic opportunity.

### Key observations on labor market impacts
- The pandemic has prompted countries to roll out significant policy changes that might otherwise have taken years.
- Remote work adoption increased rapidly: "For many professionals, working from home has become easier."
- Deep economic scars affecting many workers already forming, particularly in hospitality and tourism, delivery, retail, and basic care.
- Disproportionate impacts on specific groups:
  - Women, youth, minorities, and the less skilled are disproportionately affected.
  - Workers unlucky enough to start careers in a recession may experience lower earnings for 10 to 15 years after graduation, or longer.
- Emerging problems highlighted: lost jobs, a widening skills gap, increasing inequality, and a toll on mental health.

### Analytical perspectives and priorities
- Martin Sandbu: Work must be central because it is where many chronic and pandemic-related economic challenges intersect: inequality, precarity, and the new informality; geographic disparity; and technological change.
- Kristalina Georgieva (IMF): Emphasizes investing in women and young people and enhancing education, training, and re-skilling; "People-focused policies can boost productivity, especially if investments enhance the abilities of workers in informal and low-skill job."
- Heather Boushey and Lawrence Mishel: Argue for policies that strengthen worker power.
- Sabina Dewan and Ekkehard Ernst: Survey economic fallout in developing economies and call for improved social protection and social insurance, especially for gig and informal workers.
- Binyamin Appelbaum: Discusses the role of economics in analyzing inequities of distribution and incorporating insights from other disciplines.

### Policy recommendations and proposed priorities
- Create higher-quality jobs for more people in more places; make work central to policy responses.
- Invest in women and young people.
- Enhance education, training, and re-skilling to open up opportunities and boost productivity.
- Strengthen worker power through policy measures.
- Improve social protection and social insurance, with special focus on gig and informal workers.
- Increase healthcare and childcare support.
- Design better progressive taxation to address income inequality.
- Scale up investment in digital access and green technologies to create new jobs.

### Outlook and call to action
- The pandemic represents a moment where "in the deepest crises are born great opportunities."
- This is characterized as "a window for radical change, not to be squandered." Immediate and focused policy action can ensure that "in weeks to come, decades can happen."

*Source: Window for Change — Gita Bhatt, December 1, 2020*

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## References

- [arrival of technologies](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/shaping-a-data-economy-wef-sonmez.htm)
- [new ways of working](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/WEF-future-of-jobs-report-2020-zahidi.htm)
- [tourism](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/impact-of-the-pandemic-on-tourism-behsudi.htm)
- [youth](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/global-youth-reflect-on-covid-19-crisis.htm)
- [unlucky enough to start careers in a recession](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/future-of-youth-in-the-era-of-covid-19.htm)
- [This issue](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/index.htm)
- [he writes](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/post-pandemic-brave-new-world-sandbu.htm)
- [highlights the importance](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/policies-for-people-georgieva.htm)
- [Heather Boushey](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/how-to-make-america-more-equal-boushey.htm)
- [Lawrence Mishel](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/rebuilding-worker-power-mishel.htm)
- [call for improved social protection](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/rethinking-the-world-of-work-dewan.htm)
- [shares his point of view](https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/12/economics-must-make-room-for-other-disciplines-appelbaum.htm)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2020/12/01/window-for-change_