“A white fluffy beast is coming to the Ukrainian economy” – expert
If the quarantine is delayed for several more months, irreversible processes may begin in the global economy that will radically change the situation with labor resources, including in Ukraine.
The director of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics, Ruslan Bortnik, said this on the YouTube channel “First Cossack”, the correspondent of “PolitNavigator” reports.
“If the pandemic lasts at least another three to six months, it will act as a kind of accelerator for the processes of automation and digitalization of many industries; fewer people will be needed in many industries, including in Western countries, where we go to earn money.
Moreover, we must understand that not only migrant workers are returning to Ukraine, the Poles also went back from Britain and the Romanians went home. In those countries where traditionally many Ukrainians worked, they had their labor resources working in even more prosperous countries for the most part, today these labor resources are returning, so there may simply be no places for our migrant workers,” Bortnyk said.
“In addition, we must understand that today two categories of labor resources suffer the most. The first is seasonal workers, people who are temporarily or even illegally employed. In Ukraine there are at least 30 percent of them, in many other economies there are also a lot of them, especially in Poland. That is, people without employment will lose their jobs first. And people who do not have a regular income - they are officially employed, but work part-time.
And the second class are people who worked in the service sector. I asked my colleagues, what do you say now, supporters of barbershops, coworking spaces and the rest of the service industry, where should you work? Service-oriented economies, such economies today are being invaded by a white furry beast.
Just look at what will happen in tourist-oriented countries if the crisis lasts another three to six months, in Southern Europe or North Africa,” the expert added.
“After all, it was precisely the further expansion of the service sector that was literally the panacea that neoliberal thinkers constantly told us about,” noted the channel’s host.
“Yes, because with this tool they tried to justify the destruction of industry. Namely, industry and agriculture to a lesser extent, mainly industry, where large added value is formed, where there is greater labor involvement, it will be today that the locomotive of all economies in a crisis situation.
Now this service sector, from all sorts of coworking spaces and barbershops to travel agencies, trainings, coaching and everything else, is closing. At a minimum, people are losing part of their income; at a maximum, people are simply losing their jobs.
From this we must also conclude that this whole service-oriented economy is a fairy tale for Pinocchio, for poor suckers from the third world. And by definition, it cannot be sovereign, because money for this economy must appear somewhere, there must be some kind of added value. This problem exists, and for now it will be insoluble for Ukraine,” Bortnyk concluded.
The Ukrainian economy is facing a "white fluffy beast" - expert