Oecd covid survey eag indd

EU Labour Force Survey or national survey, 25-64 year-olds
Note: 
The EU Labour Force Survey measures the “share of population who report having participated in formal and/or 
non-formal learning activities during the 4 weeks prior to being interviewed”.
Countries are ranked in ascending order of the relative change of participation in formal and/or non-formal education and 
training for women during the second quarter of 2020 relative to the second quarter of 2019.
Source: 
OECD (2021
[21]
), Indicator A7.
By May 2021, the number of online job vacancies had dropped by 
more than 40% in most countries compared to the beginning of the 
year
The COVID-19 pandemic deteriorated economic 
conditions in 2020 in most countries and they remain 
diffi cult in 2021. The job vacancy rate, the share 
of total posts that are vacant, in the 20 European 
countries of the OECD dropped by about 25%, from 
2.2% in Q2 2019 to 1.6% in Q2 2020 as companies 
stopped hiring due to lockdown restrictions and 
a diffi cult economic context (Eurostat
[29]
). In many 
countries, the economic crisis has led to massive job 
losses, with no certainty that all jobs will be recreated 
after the economic crisis as the pandemic accelerated 
broader economic transformations, such as the 
digitalisation and transformation of jobs.
The number of online job vacancies has also been 
affected by the crisis. Evidence shows that by 
May 2020, the volume of online job vacancies 
had dropped by more than 40% in most countries 
compared to the beginning of the year. Job postings 
requiring individuals to work from home soared, driving 
home the need for workers to possess digital skills. 
Low-educated workers were particularly affected by 
declining openings in the early phase of the pandemic 
(OECD, 2021
[27]
).
On average across the OECD, the number of new 
jobs posted on line dropped by approximately 60% 
by early May 2020 compared to the start of the year. 
By July 2020, several countries experienced a relative 
improvement, with a reduction in the contraction of new 
jobs published on line. However, total jobs published 
on line were still considerably lower than during 
the pre-crisis period, and remained low between 
September and November 2020 (in countries for 
which information is available) (OECD, 2021
[27]
).
Although the volume of online job postings has 
declined in virtually every industry, heterogeneity exists 
across sectors. Some industries and sectors maintained 
most of their operations and sometimes even 
experienced a surge in demand, while others were 
forced to reduce or halt their operations. On average 
across European countries for which information is 
available, the health care and social assistance sectors 
experienced a milder decline relative to other sectors. 

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© OECD 2021 
39
The State of Global Education: 18 Months into the Pandemic
By contrast, occupations in the tourism and leisure 
sectors were hit hard. In many European countries, 
online job postings for client information workers fell 
by 70% compared to the beginning of the year. In 
Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, 
advertisements seeking travel agents, tour guides or 
flight attendants dropped by 70-90% between March 
and November 2020 (OECD, 2021
[27]
).
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
%
2020
Jan.-Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
2021
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Individual countries
EU average
OECD average
Figure 14•
Evolution of online job vacancies during the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2020-March 2021)
Note: 
The figure shows the percentage change in the number of online job postings by country relative to the pre-crisis period 
(average of January and February 2020). Belgium, Finland, Hungary, New Zealand, Portugal and Sweden are omitted from the 
analysis due to small sample size or high volatility observed in the studied period. 
Source: 
OECD (2021
[27]
), Figure 5.1. OECD calculations based on data from Burning Glass Technologies, May 2021. 

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40
© OECD 2021
The State of Global Education: 18 Months into the Pandemic
Table A1
[1/2]
•
Number of instruction days schools were "fully closed" and "partially open" in 2020 and 2021, by 
level of education