Those most likely to lose their jobs in Covid-19 crisis also have little to no savings

The people who are most likely to lose their jobs during the coronavirus crisis also often have little to no other income or savings to fall back on, central planning office CPB warned in a study into the most vulnerable groups on the labor market during this crisis.

According to the CPB, those most likely to lose their jobs are people with no permanent contract and who work in sectors where the number of vacancies have fallen sharply since the crisis. These include sectors like the catering industry and retail.

In the waiters and bartenders sector, for example, the number of vacancies was 49 percent lower in March and April this year compared to last year, and 65 percent of employees don't have a permanent contract. And for sales people in retail, vacancies were 46 percent lower, and 44 percent don't have a permanent contract. 

This group contains a relatively large number of students, young people, single people, and people whose families more recently immigrated to the Netherlands. The people in this group often already have a low income, and a large part of them have little to nothing to fall back on. In the lowest income group, half of those who are at highest risk of losing their jobs have less than 5 thousand euros in savings built up.

According to the CPB, it is not yet possible to say exactly how many people and in which professions will become unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic. But over 1.5 million people without a permanent contract currently work in risk sectors - sectors where the number of new vacancies in March and April was over 20 percent lower than in the same months last year.