Datalab: 39 % of people employed worked from home in November

DataLab
Datalab: 39 % of people employed worked from home in November

Monthly figures on the labour market – November 2020

With this series of fast indicative figures, Statbel wants to map the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the labour market. The main conclusions for November, a period when Belgium went again into lockdown, are the following:

  • the employment rate of people aged 20-64 decreases sharply;
  • the unemployment rate of people aged 15-64 remains quite high, above 6 %;
  • 27.5 % of people with a job worked less than usual, or not at all. This is a sharp increase compared to October;
  • 39 % of persons employed sometimes, usually or always worked from home.

You will find more details here below.

Sharp decrease in employment rate of people aged 20-64

After two months of increase, the provisional figures for November show a sharp decline in the employment rate of people aged 20-64. The employment rate of people aged 20-64 in November is estimated at 68.3 %, the lowest level since the beginning of the health crisis (chart 1). The decrease in the employment rate is slightly stronger for women (-2.8 percentage points) than for men (-2 percentage points). The decrease in mainly among younger age groups. However, the employment rate of people aged 55 or over still shows a slight increase.
The employment rate has decreased between October and November this year in the three regions, but the sharpest decrease took place in Flanders. The employment rate of people aged 20-64 in November is estimated at 60 % in Brussels, 72.5 % in Flanders and 63.5 % in Wallonia.

ILO unemployment rate amounts to 6.2 % in November

Since July, the ILO unemployment rate[1] of people aged 15-64 is above 6 %. With 6.9 %, the unemployment rate reached in August its highest level since the Coronavirus crisis, before decreasing to 6.2 % in September. After that, the unemployment rate remained quite stable and provisional figures also show an unemployment rate of 6.2 % for November. In November last year, the unemployment rate amounted to 5.1 %.
Between October and November 2020, the unemployment rate only increased in Flanders. In Brussels and Wallonia, Statbel observes a decrease in the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate of people aged 15-64 in November is estimated at 12 % in Brussels, 3.9 % in Flanders and 8.7 % in Wallonia.

Economic activity rate at the same level in April and May

The sharp decrease in the employment rate and the stabilisation of the unemployment rate resulted in a sharp decrease in the economic activity rate, from 69.7 % in October to 67.1 % in November 2020. The economic activity rate or the share of people employed and unemployed in the total population aged 15 to 64 is now at the same level as in April and May 2020, a period where our country was also in lockdown (chart 3).

27.5 % of people employed did not work or worked less than usual November

Just like the first lockdown, the second lockdown had a clear impact on the hours worked. During the first lockdown, a large share of people employed did not work or worked fewer hours than usual. In April, this share was 44.2 % of people employed and 33.4 % in May. Since July, the percentage of people employed who did not work or worked less was at approximately the same level as in the same month the year before, but in November, we observe again a clear impact of the new lockdown (chart 4). In November, 27.5 % of persons employed did not work or worked less than usual during the reference week (i.e. the week for which they were interviewed). This percentage is considerably higher than in October this year (14.2 %) and there is also a big difference compared to November last year (16.4 %).

From those who did not work during the reference week (704,000 persons), holidays are the main reason for not working (201,000 persons). This has to do with the autumn break that took place entirely in November in 2020. The second main reason is illness (165,000 persons), followed by temporary unemployment. In November, about 144,000 persons did not work because of temporary unemployment, compared to 52,000 persons in October. Furthermore, in November, 122,000 persons did not work because of another reason which had to do, according to the respondent, with the coronavirus.

Among the people employed who declared having worked less in the reference week (579,000 persons), holidays are the main reason (386,000 persons). Temporary unemployment ranks second with about 65,000 persons. Furthermore, nearly 61,000 persons worked less than usual because of another reason which had to do, according to the respondent, with the coronavirus.

39 % of people employed worked from home

Just like in the first lockdown, homeworking has again been mandatory since November for all people employed whose job allows. As a result, the percentage of people employed who sometimes or usually works from home increased from 34.9 % in October to 39 % in November (chart 5). This is approximately the same level as in May, when the percentage of homeworkers was the highest. The percentage of women working from home (41.7 %) is clearly higher than the percentage of their male colleagues (36.6 %). Persons whose regular workplace is in Brussels more often work from home (54.8 %) than those working in Flanders (37.4 %) or in Wallonia (33.1 %). Between October and November 2020, the percentage mainly increased among employees in the public sector. Half of them (sometimes, usually or always) worked from home in November. We also notice an increase among employees in the private sector, from 27.8 % to 31.1 %. The percentage of self-employed who sometimes or usually work from home increased from 53.5 % to 56.9 %.
In November, 36.3 % of people working from home indicate that they did it for the first time during the Covid crisis. 46 % of people working from home already did it before, but do it more during the Covid crisis and for 17.6 %, the Covid crisis had no impact on the extent of homeworking.

(b) Break in the results in June 2020. The figures until May 2020 are based on a smaller sample and therefore cannot simply be compared with the figures from June 2020 onwards.

 


[1] The ILO unemployed are all the people who do not have a job, are actively seeking work and are available to start working within two weeks.