SYNTHESIS INE@COVID-19, 2 mar-2021

March . 02 . 2021 SYNTH SIS IN @ COVID-19 www.ine.pt page 9/23 Communication Unit | tel: +351 21 842 61 10 | sci@ine.pt More information available at: Employment statistics – 4 th quarter of 2020 (10 February 2021) The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the results of the Employment Survey In 2020, the employed population absent from work in the reference week amounted to an average of 712.8 thousand people, well above the average for the period 2011-2019: 397.5 thousand. The main reason for absence was “reduction or lack of work for technical or economic reasons of the enterprise (includes temporary suspension of contract or layoff)” (213.5 thousand), which is 25 times the average of previous years (8.4 thousand). Also worthy of note is the increase in the number of individuals that referred “illness, accident or temporary disability” as the reason for absence from work: 178.3 thousand in 2020; 129.3 thousand on average in the period 2011-2019. In the 4 th quarter of 2020, there was an average of two less working hours than in the same quarter of 2019. This negative year-on-year rate of change was the highest since 2011 and was certainly influenced by the year-on-year increase in the employed population absent from work in the reference week. Absent employed population by reason of absence in 2020 and 2011-2019 average 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 Absent employees On holidays or enjoying a holiday Illness, accident, temporary disability (includes medical leave) On maternity/paternity/adop�on leave Reduc�on or lack of work (includes layoff) Other Other reasons not listed above (a) 2020 2011-2019 Thousand people (a) Includes the following reasons, presented individually to the respondent, but whose values are aggregated here because they have associated high coefficients of variation: parental leave; flexible working hours (accumulation/compensation of hours) or variable working hours; bad weather; strike or other labour conflicts; education or training; seasonal work; unpaid leave.