COVID-19 Put More Than 1 Billion Out of Work

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As the COVID-19 pandemic sent shockwaves across the global economy last year, Gallup surveys in 117 countries and territories in 2020 show the pandemic damaged more than a billion people's livelihoods in its wake.

At least some percentage of workers in all countries and territories stopped working temporarily, lost their jobs, worked fewer hours or earned less than usual because of the pandemic, but people in lower-income countries with large informal economies suffered on the largest scale.

More Than 1 Billion Lost Their Jobs or Businesses

Gallup asked people about the effect of the coronavirus on their livelihoods in the second half of 2020. By that time, much of the world was through the first wave of the global pandemic and prepping for a second, but all countries were at different stages. The negative economic effects were felt far and wide.

Globally, nearly one in three people who had jobs at the time of the pandemic (32%) said they lost their job or business because of the coronavirus situation -- translating into just over 1 billion adults.

A least half of workers in eight mostly low to lower-middle income countries lost their jobs or businesses because of the pandemic. This includes 53% of workers in India, which suffered more than any other country in the world in terms of the sheer number of people who lost their livelihoods. An estimated 400 million Indian workers lost their jobs or businesses. For comparison, in the U.S., 13% said they lost their job or business -- or about 30 million people.

	% Yes, lost job
Philippines	64
Kenya	64
Zimbabwe	62
Zambia	56
Thailand	56
Peru	54
India	53
Honduras	50
Gallup World Poll, 2020

An Estimated 1.7 Billion Stopped Working Temporarily

Temporary layoffs and business closures skyrocketed as many countries went on lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus. More than half of workers (53%) worldwide said they temporarily stopped working at their job or business because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Projected to the global population, this translates into roughly 1.7 billion adults.

In 57 countries and territories, the majority of adults who had jobs said they temporarily stopped working. This group disproportionately consisted of low- and lower-middle income countries, including India, where 67% of workers -- or an estimated 518 million people -- stopped working at least temporarily.

	% Yes				% Yes
Zimbabwe	79			Morocco	61
Philippines	77			Dominican Republic	61
Peru	75			Iraq	61
Bolivia	74			Colombia	61
Burkina Faso	71			Algeria	60
Kenya	71			Sri Lanka	60
Egypt	71			Ghana	60
Jordan	70			Nigeria	60
Bangladesh	70			Kosovo	59
Zambia	70			Venezuela	59
Myanmar	70			Guatemala	59
Ecuador	70			Togo	58
Mongolia	69			Vietnam	58
El Salvador	68			Guinea	57
Honduras	67			Mexico	56
India	67			Kyrgyzstan	56
Iran	67			Brazil	56
Ethiopia	67			South Africa	55
Thailand	66			Namibia	55
Lebanon	66			Laos	55
Paraguay	66			Chile	54
Georgia	66			Pakistan	54
Uganda	66			Argentina	54
Mauritius	64			Tanzania	53
Cameroon	64			Albania	52
Ivory Coast	63			Costa Rica	52
Senegal	63			Benin	52
Tunisia	62			Uzbekistan	51
Gabon	62
Gallup World Poll, 2020

The countries and areas where people were least likely to say they stopped working temporarily are predominantly developed, high-income countries and areas. For example, fewer than one in 10 of those who had jobs in Austria (7%), Switzerland (7%) and Germany (6%) said they had stopped working temporarily. The U.S. fell closer to the middle of the pack at 39%.

Nearly 2 Billion Worked Fewer Hours

Worldwide, workers saw their hours slashed as employers tried to lower costs and avoid layoffs in 2020. Nearly half of those who had jobs during the pandemic last year (49%) said they worked fewer hours at their job or business because of it. This translates into about 1.6 billion adults.

In 54 countries and areas, the majority of workers said they worked fewer hours because of the coronavirus situation. There are few high-income countries on that list, and no high-income countries near the top, where at least two-thirds of workers said they worked fewer hours.

	% Yes				% Yes
Thailand	76			Colombia	61
Bolivia	76			Lebanon	61
Philippines	75			Guinea	61
Kenya	73			Bangladesh	60
Zimbabwe	73			Ghana	60
Paraguay	69			Mongolia	59
Egypt	69			Mauritius	58
Guatemala	69			Mexico	58
Myanmar	69			Namibia	57
Honduras	68			Pakistan	57
Cameroon	68			Vietnam	57
Dominican Republic	67			Benin	56
Venezuela	67			Argentina	56
Togo	66			Indonesia	56
Nigeria	66			Tanzania	55
Ecuador	66			Albania	55
Uganda	66			Ethiopia	54
Ivory Coast	66			Tunisia	54
El Salvador	66			South Africa	54
Peru	65			Kyrgyzstan	53
Senegal	65			Laos	53
Zambia	65			Jamaica	52
Gabon	64			Costa Rica	52
Jordan	64			Nicaragua	52
Burkina Faso	64			Kosovo	52
Iran	64			Iraq	52
Algeria	63			Brazil	51
Gallup World Poll, 2020

In the United States, workers were considerably less likely than the global average to report working fewer hours. However, more than four in 10 American workers (41%) said they worked less.

Nearly 2 Billion Saw Their Earnings Cut

If workers managed to hold on to their jobs, many saw their earnings cut as their employers tried to reduce costs and stay afloat. Some estimates from researchers at the University of Chicago suggest that in the U.S. alone, twice as many workers had their pay cut during the pandemic than in the Great Recession.

Americans were not alone. Globally, half of those with jobs at the time of the survey (50%) said they received less money than usual from their employers because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This translates into about 1.6 billion adults.

In 54 countries and areas, the majority of workers who were employed at the time of the survey said they took home less money than usual because of the coronavirus situation. Again, most of these countries were lower-income economies where many workers were already struggling to make ends meet.

	% Yes				% Yes
Thailand	76			Lebanon	61
Bolivia	75			Burkina Faso	61
Myanmar	75			Guinea	61
Kenya	74			Ethopia	61
Uganda	72			Mauritius	61
Indonesia	72			Iran	59
Honduras	71			Venezuela	59
Ecuador	71			Gabon	58
Peru	69			South Africa	58
Philippines	68			Jamaica	58
Zimbabwe	68			Costa Rica	57
Cameroon	68			Mexico	57
Nigeria	68			Nepal	57
Zambia	68			Albania	57
Paraguay	67			Namibia	56
El Salvador	67			Cambodia	56
Egypt	66			Sri Lanka	56
Guatemala	66			India	55
Senegal	65			Laos	55
Ghana	65			Vietnam	55
Togo	65			Kyrgyzstan	54
Colombia	65			Tanzania	54
Ivory Coast	64			Kosovo	53
Bangladesh	63			Mongolia	53
Jordan	62			Pakistan	52
Dominican Republic	62			Nicaragua	52
Benin	61			Argentina	52
Gallup World Poll, 2020

Looking Ahead

At a minimum, these results outline the scope of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on people's livelihoods around the world. Workers in all countries were affected to some degree, but particularly those in low-income countries will find recovery more difficult.

The full picture of what happened in the world at work will come into sharper focus in coming weeks and months, with Gallup's analysis in the State of the Global Workplace report in June, which will explore employee engagement, life evaluations and worker's daily emotions.

Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works.