When IMF economists looked at workers’ ability to telework in 35 countries, they found that roughly 100 million people—15% of the workforce in those places—cannot do their specific jobs online. The ability to telework also varied dramatically from country to country: more than half of households in most developing countries don’t have a computer at home.
The workers least likely to be able to work from home were the youngest, between 15 and 29 years old. Young workers, especially those without college educations and women, were already suffering from unfavorable labor market conditions prior to the pandemic.
Women are also disproportionately represented in sectors that don’t lend themselves to remote work, such as food service, hospitality, as well as wholesale and retail trade. The IMF analysis found approximately 20 million workers in those areas were at a high risk of losing their jobs.
The ability to telework varied dramatically from country to country, even within the same occupation. More than half the households in most emerging and developing countries don’t even have a computer at home.
From Quartz (edited)
