Robalino, DavidBanerji, Arup2012-08-132012-08-132009-09https://hdl.handle.net/10986/11717This note briefly reviews the experiences with wage subsidies and reduced work schedules in promoting employment and avoiding the depreciation of accumulated skills and knowledge due to a temporary downturn. These policies have been adopted by many high income countries as well as some middle income countries. It is to early o comment on their impact; to date, they have not been rigorously evaluated in the context of the financial crisis. And any results will also be difficult to generalize, since much depends on local conditions and the structure of the labor market. Wage subsidies and reduced work schedules show some promise as measures that can help countries to increase the employment elasticity of growth during the recovery and avoid the depreciation of skills associated with unemployment or informal work. Wage subsidies and reduced work schedules mainly benefit formal sector workers, which represent less than 50 percent of the labor force in most middle and low income countries.CC BY 3.0 IGOACTIVE LABORACTIVE LABOR MARKETACTIVE LABOR MARKET POLICIESACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAMSAGGREGATE EMPLOYMENTBORROWINGCOLLECTIVE BARGAININGCONTRIBUTION RATEDISABILITYDISABLED WORKERSDISADVANTAGED GROUPSECONOMIC SLOWDOWNECONOMICSEMPLOYABILITYEMPLOYEEEMPLOYEE BENEFITSEMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONEMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONSEMPLOYERS ORGANIZATIONSEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT CREATIONEMPLOYMENT EFFECTSEMPLOYMENT OUTLOOKEMPLOYMENT POLICYEMPLOYMENT SERVICESEMPLOYMENT SUBSIDYFORMAL SECTOR WORKERSGOVERNMENT SUBSIDIESHEALTH INSURANCEHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN RESOURCESHUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENTINCOMEINCOME TAXINFORMAL SECTORINFORMAL SECTOR WORKERSJOB COUNSELINGJOB DESTRUCTIONJOB TENUREJOBSJOBS CRISISLABOR DEMANDLABOR FORCELABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET ADJUSTMENTLABOR MARKET FLEXIBILITYLABOR MARKET POLICIESLABOR MARKET RIGIDITIESLABOR MARKETSLABOR ORGANIZATIONLABOR TURNOVERLABOURLABOUR COSTSLAYOFFSLONG TERM UNEMPLOYMENTLOW-WAGE EMPLOYMENTMINIMUM WAGEPAID WORKERSPAYROLL TAXESPENSION SYSTEMSPRODUCTIVITYPUBLIC WORKSREGULAR JOBSSELF EMPLOYMENTSEVERANCE PAYSHORT-TERM TRAININGSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL SECURITYSUBSIDIZED EMPLOYMENTSUBSIDIZED TRAININGTAX CREDITSTEMPORARY EMPLOYMENTTRAINING PROGRAMSTRAINING STIPENDSUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYED PEOPLEUNEMPLOYED WORKERSUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITUNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITSUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCEUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE SYSTEMUNFUNDED LIABILITIESUNSKILLED WORKERSWAGE EMPLOYMENT SUBSIDIESWAGE INCREASESWAGE LOSSWAGE LOSSESWAGE SUBSIDIESWAGE SUBSIDYWAGE SUBSIDY PROGRAMSWAGESWORK ORGANIZATIONWORK SHARINGWORKERSWORKINGWORKING HOURSYOUNG WORKERSWorld Bank10.1596/11717