Helping Displaced Workers Back Into Jobs After a Natural Disaster

Large-scale natural disasters can have long-lasting effects on the labour market in affected areas in addition to their humanitarian and economic cost. Mass evacuations and disruptions to housing, transport, social services and infrastructure can impede labour market participation. Firms may need to lay off workers, permanently or temporarily, as they deal with physical damage and loss of customers. Even if employment levels return to their pre-disaster levels, the mix of jobs and workers may have changed, so that skills shortages coexist with relatively high unemployment rates. Governments have an important role to play in helping prevent unnecessary job losses, providing income support and re-employment assistance to displaced workers while they find new jobs and creating the environment to encourage job creation as the recovery takes hold. This paper examines the labour market impact of recent natural disasters in six OECD countries, outlines labour market and income support policies implemented to help those affected and discusses the challenges of implementing such policies in the aftermath of a natural disaster.