Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean: Policies to protect labour relations and hiring subsidies amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Employment Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean is a twice-yearly report prepared jointly by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Office for the Southern Cone of Latin America of the International Labour Organization (ILO). In its last edition, the two United Nations organizations analyze the effects of the crisis caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the region’s labour markets during 2020 and 2021, and they stress the importance of the policies implemented by countries to mitigate this impact. According to the report, in 2021 the recovery in employment and job creation has been partial and slower than the reactivation in economic activity. Although it is forecast that the region will end this year with 5.9% economic growth, this will not be enough to return to the level of Gross Domestic Product or employment recorded in 2019. Therefore, labour markets will have experienced their second year of unprecedented crisis.