COVID-19 and the World of Work: Assessment of the Employment Impacts and Policy Responses BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA

The report shows that due to the lockdowns related to the pandemic, Bosnia and Herzegovina registered job losses higher than the average in the six Western Balkan economies. It offers five policy options for supporting enterprises, jobs, and incomes during the reactivation phase.

The ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) established a joint task force to assess the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the Western Balkans economies. The EBRD/ILO Task Force extended its operations to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2020 to support the development of policy responses when the public health threat developed into a global pandemic with economic consequences.

The report shows that the decline in working hours during the third quarter was equivalent to the loss of 170,000 full-time jobs. During the second and third quarters, Bosnia and Herzegovina registered losses higher than the average in the six Western Balkan economies, by 3 and 4 percentage points, respectively. The report identifies 14 sectors in which workers and enterprises are severely affected. The report offers five policy options for Bosnia and Herzegovina for supporting enterprises, jobs and incomes during the reactivation phase.