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Hello, you're listening to Money Talks on Economist Radio.

Our weekly podcast on the markets, the economy and the world of business.

I'm Simon Long, an editor at the Economist.

Coming up on today's show has the pandemic changed work forever.

Businesses do sort of realise that they need to do more, give more of a voice to frontline workers.

A Pandora's Box has been opened. It's very, very difficult now to imagine that we will go back.

And who are the winners and losers in this new world?

The impact of the pandemic has been very unequally distributed.

These things are beneficial in the long run.

But the cost for the people who provide those services will be substantial.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a terrible toll on the world's workers.

It's destroyed millions of jobs, causing a drop in employment 14 times bigger than the one after the financial crisis of a decade ago.

In some countries, unemployment has risen to levels last seen in the 1930s,

with the pain concentrated among the low skills.

The pandemic has also worsened inequalities that are previously often only bubbled under the surface.

Our new special report just released on Economist.com reflects on a horrific year for workers in 2020,

but also argues that there are many reasons for optimism about labour markets.

The immediate legacy of the pandemic makes for grim reading.

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