Almost 800,000 workers in the formal and informal sectors had their salaries slashed, following the outbreak of COVID 19 in the country.
The Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah, who made this known, said the pandemic has also affected many businesses.
“In terms of the direct impact of COVID-19 on incomes, 46.1 percent of business establishments reported that they reduced wages for 25.7 percent of their workforce, which represents 770,124 workers.
“Pay reduction affected nearly 800,000 workers. The pandemic had a very negative effect on businessed as well. On average, firms estimated a possible decline of between 24% and 15% in employment, in the worst-case scenario.”
The financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic led to staff losing their jobs while others were forced to take salary cuts.
A survey by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations on the impact of COVID-19 on employment shows that 40 percent of workers experienced pay cuts between March and June 2020.
As a result, the government instituted a Tripartite Technical Committee to come up with modalities for the implementation of a National Unemployment Insurance Scheme.
The President had early on disclosed that about “770,000 workers had their wages reduced and about 42,000 employees were laid off during the 3-week partial lockdown imposed on the Greater Accra and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan areas.”
