Jobs in the arts and hospitality could take five years to recover to pre-Coronavirus levels

May 21, 2020

Employment in the arts and hospitality sectors - hard hit by the Coronavirus crisis - will take more than five years to recover to pre-pandemic levels according to a report from Deloitte Access Economics.

In a report released on Wednesday, economists painted a grim picture of the job losses wrought by the Coronavirus shutdown across the Australian economy.

While Deloitte estimates some white-collar sectors have suffered job losses of less than 10% and will rebound to previous employment levels before the end of next year, it sees that between 50% and 60% of jobs have been lost in the accommodation, food, arts and recreation industries, and these will not recover before the end of 2025.

Retail, where spending plunged by a record 18% in April, according to preliminary statistics, also faces a long recovery - with Deloitte estimating 10% of jobs in the sector are gone and it will take until August 2025 to recover.

Deloitte predicts that the finance sector, which has been heavily supported by the Reserve Bank and has so far lost few jobs, faces a delayed wave of job losses as the effects of the crisis sweep through the economy.

More than 10% of workers in the sector will lose their jobs and employment will not recover until late 2025, Deloitte predicts.

Advising that the recovery of arts and hospitality businesses, which were the first to be closed by government restrictions, would be slowed because the sectors faced a second wave of economic pain, Deloitte Access Economics partner David Rumbens stated “there’s the broader loss to the economy and consumer spending, which often drives these services, and that’s going to be constrained for a while.

“Unemployment’s going to be quite high, or higher than it was, for a period of time.”

As reported by Guardian Australia, preliminary retail sales figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday show that spending on areas traditionally regarded as discretionary - clothing, footwear, accessories, eating out and takeaway food - fell to half its normal levels in April.

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