Analysis of the social and economic effects of COVID-19 on the labour market

Contemporary trends in the labour market development are manifested in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, which has become a trigger for new processes in almost all areas of life around the world. On that basis, the purpose of the work is to identify modern socio-economic effects in the context of a pandemic crisis, to reveal in action the ‘structural effect of wage differentiation’. The methodological basis of the research is the methods of structural and statistical analysis, systematic, comparative and interdisciplinary approaches, graphic modelling. The article highlights the ‘shocks’ of supply and demand, which increase structural imbalances in the labour market in the pandemic. Specific socio-economic effects are identified (the structural effect of wage differentiation, the effect of hybrid jobs, the effect of washing out generations, the effect of the collapse of professions, the effect of staff burnout, the effect of dissatisfaction with personnel, the effect of profession change mobility and effect of gender inequality), which in synergy lead to an increasing imbalance in the labour market. Based on statistical data for 2019-2021, presented is an assessment of the ‘structural effect of wage differentiation’, which indicates a faster decrease in the pace of working hours compared to the reduction in the total wage bill due to rising unemployment in the economy during the pandemic.