Solas Autumn Skills Bulletin 2020

The introduction of COVID-19 restrictions in March 2020 led to a significant fall in employment in Ireland. Between quarter 1 and quarter 2 2020, employment numbers fell by 131,000; this fall was particularly pronounced for those working part-time, with a fall of almost 80,000 persons employed (or 16%, compared to a 3% decline for full-time workers).

The primary aim of this paper is to establish a profile of those who were working part-time in Ireland prior to the onset of COVID-19 (in this case quarter 1 2020) so as to establish who, within this cohort, may most require labour market interventions, in light of the fall in employment that has occurred since. We examine how part-time working has evolved since the recession, who is most likely to work part-time in terms of age, gender and educational background and how part-time working patterns vary according to the sector and occupation of employment.

The full bulletin can be found here.