Working from Home in a Smart Lockdown Changing Dynamics of the Labour Market under COVID-19

Responding to the COVID-19 outbreak, the social distancing and lockdown measures have changed the labour market dynamics, resulting in laying off of millions of workers across the world.1 Countries, faced with the “lockdown paradox”, are trying to balance between lives and livelihoods in ways that can help flatten the curve. This is important because economic recession could dry up government resources which in turn can affect the war against Coronavirus. PIDE COVID-19 Bulletin No. 17 suggested several measures to implement a “smart lockdown” in Pakistan. One of the measures was to keep working remotely/from home where possible. The current Bulletin explores the feasibility and extent of the work from home option across occupations and provinces. Quantifying the extent of such jobs across these dimensions could provide a useful insight to policy makers for: (i) targeted compensations; and (ii) keeping the economy functional. Moreover, understanding of the who and how many can perform from home is an important indicator to predict the working of the economy during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Box below explains the methodology we use to estimate this.