COVID-19 IN NIGERIA: IMPACT ON WORK AND WORKERS

M. GBAJUMO-SHERIFF; A. SOGUNRO; T. ELEGBEDE; P. UDOBI-OWOLOJA

M. GBAJUMO-SHERIFF Department of Employment Relations & Human Resource management, University of Lagos. Nigeria
A. SOGUNRO Department of Actuarial Science and Insurance, University of Lagos, Nigeria
T. ELEGBEDE Department of Employment Relations & Human Resource Management, Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Lagos.
P. UDOBI-OWOLOJA Department of Finance, University of Lagos, Nigeria

Keywords: COVID-19, Nigeria, Work, Working, Lockdown, Remote Work

Abstract

The Coronavirus disease, officially called COVID-19 is infecting people all around the world, with over 2% of death. The virus which spreads through respiratory means from human-to-human and its negative impact on the health of humans is still been understood by scientists. COVID-19 is changing different spheres of our lives; social, economic, and cultural. It is also transforming how, where, and when work is done. Like many other countries, Nigeria is experiencing its own part of the change in the workspace, within the family, and in the society. The study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on work, working, and family. This paper adopted a theoretical approach by presenting secondary data available on COVID-19 that improve readers’ understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on work. This paper relied majorly on secondary data collected at 4 different times (April/May, June, July, and August 2020) through the COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone survey (COVID-19 NLPS), which was launched by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with the support of the World Bank to provide information on the impact of the pandemic. The COVID-19 experience on work and family has been overwhelming, coming with its gains and pains. The epidemic outbreak has brought to the fore the need for government to put structures in place to encourage organizations to adopt flexible working. Additionally, the government should over time develop a framework that supports working people with family responsibilities, both financially (public income support and child allowances) and non-financial (parental leave, creche, and other childcare support facilities) means.