Global and Ukrainian Labour Markets in the Face of Digitalization Challenges and the Threats of the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Main Authors: Yuliya Zaloznova, Oksana Pankova, Yaroslav Ostafiichuk
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institute for International Cooperation Development 2020-10-01
• Series: Virtual Economics
• Subjects: digital; sustainable; social and labor development; covid-19 pandemic; transformations and risks in field of labor and employment
• Online Access: https://virtual-economics.eu/index.php/VE/article/view/87/66

In the situation of growing global problems and dangers of anthropo-technological, medical-epidemiological, economic, environmental, demographic nature, the demand for identifying transformational changes in global and national labour markets is relevant. The fourth industrial revolution, the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition to Society 5.0 (Super Smart Society or Society 5.0) are the challenges that change the nature of the world of work, the man of labour, in every country and in humanity as a whole. They create new dangers, are accompanied by unpredictable consequences, but at the same time, they open new opportunities. Therefore, these processes require in-depth research. The purpose of the article is to study transformations on the global and national labour markets caused by the complex impact of digitalization processes and the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study combines modern concepts of sustainable development, decent work, social risk and digital economy. Emphasis is placed on the importance to ensure the complementarity of sustainable, labour and digital development. The authors put forward and confirmed the hypothesis that today the transformations in the labour and employment markets are due to the complex influence of modern megatrends, first of all – the COVID-19 pandemic and the digitalization of the economy and society. In the present situation, the COVID-19 pandemic can be a trigger (accelerator) of the digitalization process. The results of the study show that the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine restrictions stimulated the growth of demand for digital technologies to meet the communication, professional, consumer and economic needs of the people, contributed to the spread of new non-standard forms of employment using information and communication technologies. The authors present a system of transformational changes in the social and labour sphere in terms of digital and sustainable development; also, they propose key imperatives, priorities of strategic and tactical level to ensure the stabilization and balance of the labour market and employment in Ukraine.