What should we do with 1 billion hours of time? Australia's COVID-19 opportunity
- Written by Emil Temnyalov, Senior Lecturer, Economics, University of Technology Sydney
COVID-19’s impact on the Australian labour market has been dramatic and multifaceted.
Some sectors of the economy have been almost completely shut down by government order. The demand in many industries has collapsed, while a few others have seen an increase[1].
As many as one million[2] jobs are under threat. Such estimates came before the government’s extraordinary JobKeeper[3] scheme, which will undoubtedly reduce this figure considerably.
Despite that, many who will keep their jobs may not actually have much to do at work. The economy will be in “hibernation[4]” or on “life-support[5]” for some time to come.
We’ve gained about 1 billion hours of time
If the economy has shed the equivalent of one million jobs, then we’ve gained about one billion hours of available time, and that’s just over the next six months. The full impact of the crisis could be even larger.
What should we do with this time?
Many of us are spending more time with children who are no longer physically at school. Some of us are doing tasks which our older relatives previously did. Netflix is also a compelling option.
From a human capital perspective, the crisis presents a unique economic opportunity to re-train and up-skill Australia’s labour force.
The Australian government jumped on board on Sunday[6], announcing funding that would cut the price[7] of new six-month, remotely delivered diplomas and graduate certificates in nursing, teaching, health, information technology and science provided by universities and private tertiary institutions.
Economists have long observed that investment in human capital (education, skills) tends to increase during recessions, because there aren’t as many well-paying alternatives.
We can use it to get ahead of the curve
References
- ^ increase (theconversation.com)
- ^ one million (theconversation.com)
- ^ JobKeeper (theconversation.com)
- ^ hibernation (www.abc.net.au)
- ^ life-support (www.smh.com.au)
- ^ Sunday (ministers.dese.gov.au)
- ^ cut the price (www.abc.net.au)
- ^ Deserted ANU lecture theatre. (kambri.com.au)
- ^ loans (www.smh.com.au)
- ^ businesses (theconversation.com)
- ^ Give people and businesses money now they can pay back later (if and when they can) (theconversation.com)
- ^ JobSeeker (theconversation.com)
- ^ JobKeeper (theconversation.com)
Authors: Emil Temnyalov, Senior Lecturer, Economics, University of Technology Sydney