voxeu.org (07.04.2020) Due to the global spread of COVID-19, Austria, like many other countries, is facing a massive increase in unemployment. To mitigate the skyrocketing number of unemployed persons, social partners have developed a new model of subsidised short-time work that could become an international role model. The Austrian model allows a temporary reduction in working hours up to 90% while maintaining the employment relationship and granting almost full public wage compensation.

rappler.com (15.04.2020) Just like many COVID-19 patients fighting for their lives, what the Philippine economy needs right now is a sturdy ventilator for life support. But at the rate government is distributing aid, our economy’s ventilator seems dismally broken. On March 25, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. This chiefly authorized him to marshal resources to fight COVID-19. That law also mandated government to hand out disaster relief.

World Economic Forum (06.04.2020) The COVID-19 pandemic has helped widen global usage for chatbot technology. After the pandemic, the use of chatbots for healthcare applications will continue to grow. Public and private stakeholders must come together to maximize these benefits while minimizing risks.

theglobeandmail.com (15.04.2020) The federal government expanding the Canada Emergency Response Benefit to include people making up to $1,000 a month, seasonal workers and people whose EI [employment insurance] has run out. 

touteleurope.eu (10.04.2020) Le 9 avril 2020, les ministres des Finances de l’Union européenne ont approuvé la proposition de la Commission européenne de financer une partie du chômage partiel dans les Etats membres, à hauteur de 100 milliards d’euros. En quoi consiste cette mesure ? Pourquoi l’idée d’un mécanisme de réassurance chômage au niveau européen refait-elle surface dans le cadre de la crise sanitaire ?

azernews.az (08.04.2020) A program of compensating for the damage caused to the entrepreneurs and their employees as a result of coronavirus has been launched in Azerbaijan. The program will cover 300,000 employees, 42,000 employers, and about 300,000 private or micro-entrepreneurs. The Azerbaijani government allocated 215 million manat ($126 million) to preserve the salaries of the hired workers. The average monthly salary as of January - 712 manat ($418) - will be taken as the main criterion for partial payment of the workers' salaries. A program on providing micr

sknvibes.com (24.03.2020)

euractiv.com (09.04.2020) Denmark has always prided itself on its “flexicurity” model that marries the free market with a welfare society, but in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has chosen another strategy. Like several other European countries, it chose to effectively fork over money to companies to pay the wages of their staff. “It is important for me here today to send a signal to companies: Keep on your employees,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.

The Jakarta Post (13.04.2020) Indonesia’s preemployment card program, a social safety net offering aid similar to unemployment benefits, saw an immediate spike in interest within a few days of its launch, as 2.8 million people have lost their jobs nationwide as a result of businesses temporarily halting operations. Just a day after the program was launched on Saturday, 1.4 million people applied for benefits worth a total of Rp 3.5 million (US$223)  — to be given for four months — in the first registration phase, according to data from the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister.

voaafrique.com (01.4.2020)

Pour lutter contre l'épidémie de coronavirus, le président du Niger Mahamadou Issoufou avait déjà annoncé la semaine dernière des distributions gratuites et des ventes à prix réduits de vivres pour soutenir les personnes vulnérables, et la prise en charge par l'Etat des factures d'électricité et de l'eau pour les tranches sociales pour les mois d'avril et mai.