The pandemic accelerated existing trends in remote work, e-commerce, and automation, with up to 25 percent more workers than previously estimated potentially needing to switch occupations.
This report is the first of three MGI (McKinsey Global Institue) reports that examine aspects of the post pandemic economy—the future of work, consumer behavior, and the potential for a broad recovery led by enhanced productivity and innovation. The COVID‑19 pandemic disrupted labor markets globally during 2020. The short-term consequences were sudden and often severe: Millions of people were furloughed or lost jobs, and others rapidly adjusted to working from home as offices closed. Many of those workers were deemed essential and continued to work in hospitals and grocery stores, on garbage trucks and in warehouses, yet under new protocols to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus.
