Page 74 - AEI Insights Vol. 7 2021

AEI Insights, Vol 7, Issue 1, 2021

become a new norm in ASEAN, with most corporations resorting to flexible work
arrangements for its employees and at the same time promoting a positive family and work life
balance. As the Southeast Asians are considered the world's most active internet users (OECD,
2019), the advancement of the digital economy has led to the rise in the usage of telemedicine,
digital learning in the education system and e-commerce during the pandemic. For instance,
Indonesia, Vietnam, and Singapore saw traffic increase by more than 10 percent on e-
commerce platforms during the COVID-19 crisis (Dezan Shira & Associates, 2020) when more
people engaged in online shopping compared to the conventional shopping as people are
instructed to stay at home and avoid crowds throughout the MCO.

Conclusion

COVID-19 which has been discovered in Wuhan, China has led to a global economic
downturn. This paper examines the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the economy focusing
on the ASEAN labour market. A glance into the general characteristics of the labour market in
ASEAN countries showed that there is a positive relationship between income per capita and
LFPR at the advanced education level. It would imply that countries with relatively higher
income level would tend to have a higher LFPR at advanced education level. The pandemic
has caused an unprecedented reduction in economic activity and working time. Income support
for workers and businesses operating in the informal economy is crucial in order to prevent
them from falling far deeper into poverty. Business and job protection should concentrate on
the most vulnerable in order to reduce the economic and social effects of the confinement
process. Given the growing dependency on work from home connectivity during the pandemic
and the need for ASEAN countries to further develop their e-commerce, this sector would
require significant foreign investment to ensure that digital technologies can be properly
leveraged in the fight to preserve business continuity. Labour experts believe that the economic
and labour market situations will deteriorate even more over the next few months. Though as
the situation persists, ASEAN countries have been quick to prepare their COVID-19 stimulus
and relief programmes. However, the feasibility of interventions to target disadvantaged groups
and the government's ability to sustain fiscal expansion would also remain a concern. ASEAN
and governments all over the world find it difficult to strike the right balance between caution
in protecting national health and the reopening of economic activities as the spread of COVID-
19 is unlikely to subside completely in the near future (ILO, 2020b).

References

Alon, T., Doepke, M., Olmstead-Rumsey, J., & Tertilt, M. (2020). This time it’s different:
The role of women’s employment in a pandemic recession. NBER Working Paper Series
No. 27660, 1–62. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004

ASEAN. (2020). Economic Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak on ASEAN. In ASEAN Policy
Brief. Retrieved from https://asean.org/storage/2020/04/ASEAN-Policy-Brief-April-
2020_FINAL.pdf
Chinadaily. (2020, June 8). White paper - Fighting Covid-19: China in Action. Retrieved
November 2020, from Chinadaily: https://covid-
19.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202006/08/WS5edd8bd6a3108348172515ec.html
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