The COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing measures taken in response raise the prospect of a steep downturn for numerous economies. A key concern is to prevent this initial shock from turning into an even deeper and prolonged recession. This brief stresses that social dialogue has the capacity to help. For example by shaping compromises whereby employers maintain jobs, workers accept shorter working hours while governments provide compensation, social dialogue functions as a crisis “circuit breaker”. Social dialogue can do so because it has both the capacity to coordinate different actors and because it tends to build trust. The brief illustrates this by referring to several recent cases where social partners, in collaboration with government, have quickly stepped up to the challenge by expanding short time work systems. The Global Deal partnership is pleased to offer its initial contribution to the struggle to address the COVID-19 crisis in the form of this short brief and the best practice examples of social dialogue that it showcases.