How COVID-19 affected Kiwis
Kiwis are still experiencing negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic on their mental health and income, despite living in one of the few countries in the world where the situation has largely returned to normal.
As one of the few countries in the world where the economy is largely back to "normal", we would have expected mental health to improve," said Jagadish Thaker, a lecturer at Massey University´s School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing in Wellington, who published a report in which 46 per cent of New Zealanders said they or a household member had trouble sleeping because of the spread of COVID-19, higher than the 43 per cent recorded by the survey in June-July last year. About 40 per cent continue to say they feel depressed.
On the other aspect, although health care job numbers increased due to higher demand for services during the pandemic, industries such as accommodation and food services, and transport had a huge number of job losses. According to Stats NZ, the following industries experienced a decline at the end of December:
1. Accommodation and food services – 7,772 jobs lost.
2. Administrative and support services – 5,340 jobs lost.
3. Transport, postal and warehousing – 4,871 jobs lost.
4. Arts and recreation services – 3,169 jobs lost.
5. Wholesale trade – 1,880 jobs lost.
6. Information media and telecommunications – 1,543 jobs lost.
7. Manufacturing – 1,448 jobs lost.
8. Retail trade – 1,341 jobs lost.
9. Rental, hiring and real estate services – 1,008 jobs lost.
10. Mining – 204 jobs lost.
The survey showed that a significant part of the population is still facing economic and mental health problems.
Lastly, if your job was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, you can get advice from a professional career expert from the government. They can help you to: Make a personalised career plan, gain confidence, and find work or training.
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This article was published in the Zealancer-News 74.