Publication: When Face-to-Face Interactions Become an Occupational Hazard: Jobs in the Time of COVID-19
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Published
2020-05
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Date
2020-05-14
Author(s)
Avdiu, Besart
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Abstract
There is a crisis of demand brewing around the globe as social distancing becomes the norm to counter the COVID-19 outbreak. So, which parts of the economy are most in the line of fire? Looking at jobs that can be done at home or that require a high degree of face-to-face interactions with consumers can capture complementary but distinct mechanisms to assess this vulnerability. This paper uses data on 900 job titles from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database for the United States to demonstrate that there is substantial heterogeneity in vulnerability across industries, income groups, and gender. First, industries vary in whether they emphasize face-to-face interactions and home-based work and the two do not always go hand-in-hand. Second, occupations that are less amenable to home-based work are largely concentrated among the lower wage deciles. Third, a larger share of women's employment is accounted for by occupations that are intensive in face-to-face interactions.
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“Avdiu, Besart; Nayyar, Gaurav. 2020. When Face-to-Face Interactions Become an Occupational Hazard: Jobs in the Time of COVID-19. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9240. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33752 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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