Effects of COVID-19 on the Dutch labour market. An aggregate, sectorial, and individual analysis

This thesis analyses the effect of COVID-19 on the Dutch labour market through a general analysis, a sector analysis, and an individual analysis. To investigate this, I observed the employment and full time equivalent (FTE) working hour trend throughout 2015-2021, alongside examining the sectors that lost most employment and investigating the characteristics that make individuals switch sectors. My results show that there was a decrease in employment and FTE during the first quarter of 2020 and the last quarter of 2021, highlighting that accounting for the trend and persistence of employment and FTE are essential to correctly estimate the effect. Sectors which require social contact lost most employment during the pandemic. Lastly, individuals most likely to switch from an affected sector to a different one and find new employment were older, female, native-born, working less hours, with a higher wage, with a temporary contract, and with a higher education. These results provide insight for policy makers to target social policies to individuals likely to switch to facilitate and encourage the change, as well as assisting those who are less likely to switch. Additionally, information is provided on what sectors lost most formal employment and the time periods to create greater targeted aid.