Employment and the Pandemic: Work Hours Lost During COVID-19 in South Asia

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the characteristics and correlation of elements that are associated with work hours lost during COVID-19 (WHL), related to the South Asian region. WHL is the number of hours deducted from the standard work time due to the effect of the pandemic. Therefore, the strictness of lockdown, employee social protection benefits, and COVID-19 confirmed cases related to the year 2020 (based on data availability) in seven countries namely, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka were assessed on preliminary basis using secondary data. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. Results show that the region is experiencing an average WHL of 11.54 %. It was also found that Nepal has faced the highest WHL (17.4%). While maintaining considerably less lockdown, Afghanistan has experienced the lowest WHL (6.5%). It was also found that Sri Lanka has faced a moderate effect on WHL, which may result from promoting government action. Correlation results depict that social protection benefits are negatively related to WHL while the stringency of lockdown and confirmed COVID-19 cases are positively related to WHL. The findings would support the organizations such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and HRM professionals to make possible changes in working conditions possibly by enabling working from home, and employee insurance to withstand COVID-19 as well as possible future pandemics to avoid economic disruptions.