Large share of people who became unemployed during crisis still remaining jobless

TALLINN - Of the 6,300 people who worked in accommodation and catering in Estonia in February 2020 and lost their job during the crisis months, slightly over 40 percent remained unemployed at the end of April this year, according to Statistics Estonia.

Some 1,500 people, or one-fourth, have returned to employment in accommodation and catering, whereas the rest of the people found a job in trade and service, data from Statistics Estonia shows.

Close to 27,000 people had their main job in catering and accommodation in February 2020 and 23,650 of them still worked in the same field in April 2020. Over 3,000 people in said field lost their job by the end of the month, however, and 710 found employment in a different sector.

At the end of July, which is traditionally the busiest period in accommodation and catering, almost 3,000 more people became unemployed in the sector, in addition to over 1,000 people who found employment in other fields.

Meanwhile, many people who had previously been unemployed found at least temporary employment in accommodation and catering when restrictions were lifted. Thus, the number of people who joined the sector from April through July was larger than the number of people who left the field. 

It must be taken into consideration, however, that the increase in the number of people employed in catering and accommodation during summer season has been larger in previous years.

More people left catering and accommodation than joined from July to December. At the end of April this year, 19,360 people had their main job in the said field.