If people are reviewing the statistics and predictions put out across the country, it seems that unemployment in the US is worse than the UK, but the latter has not made its way out of the tunnel yet, with the worst, yet to come. The end of the year is expecting the unemployment in the UK to be in double digits, with markets and the economy plateauing post and stabilising by the end of 2021, or the beginning of 2022.
All the predictions account for the fact that the Government should begin opening the lockdown restrictions and allowing businesses to get back to work. A bold move like this implies that companies and the people working for them follow the social distancing norms and other measures that have been put out, including wearing masks, using sanitizers, leaving only if necessary and so on.
Most of the studies and predictions also stated that opening up the markets, even with precautions, for the sake of the economy could have a negative impact as was seen in other countries around the world. Most countries that followed this plan ended up with a second wave of the virus hitting them, leading to everything shutting down again, causing even greater difficulty. For the UK, many have predicted a recession like the one that took place several decades back in the 80s while others are stating that it could be the worst recession, unlike anything seen in the last three centuries.
Global gross domestic product is estimated to have fallen by 15.6% in the first six months of the year, a drop four times greater than in 2008, according to JPMorgan Chase. The first stage of the coronavirus crisis was lead by state-mandated lockdowns, while the coming months are likely to be characterized by consumer fear and government restrictions on travel, tourism, entertainment, hospitality and retail. Additionally, this would mean that the public would be wary of interactions and stay away from certain situations because of the fear caused due to the pandemic.
These changes seen with the UK Government began opening up their economy at the beginning of August. The Government wanted to see if smaller businesses could power through the economy especially since it needed a boost, considering that they were planning on cancelling a lot of the schemes that they were running, including the Furlough scheme, by the end of October.
Unfortunately, this did not play out the way that they would have liked it too with people being wary about leaving their homes after seeing the effects of the virus on people. The country was no longer depending on the health care system after they saw a large number of people getting sick while the system could not assist them, the way they initially believed it would.
Additionally, changes like background checks through the DBS certificate were getting popular with companies handling these checks to make sure the people they were hitting were a right fit for the job. A DBS check could be handled online with employers going through the details of the certificate without having to leave their offices.