Uncertainty and Inequality: The Long-Term Effects of the Pandemic on Workers Careers and Experiences

The pandemic seems to have exacerbated inequalities already present in the labour and employment market. It has in fact acted as an accelerator of certain structural processes already underway and highlighted the problems associated with the ongoing socio-economic transformations of the past thirty, forty years, such as globalisation and the development model as it has been conceived and implemented up to now (Alberio & Tremblay, 2021). The social and economic consequences of the pandemic on work and workers have been widely and rapidly studied over the past two years, in particular the first shocks and reactions with regard to working time and rhythms, the transformation of norms and rules in the workplace, effects of policies and programs governing the shutdown and recovery of economic activities, among others. However, what remains and changes in work and employment in the long term? Did the pandemic structural changed our societies and their labour markets and how? How are early consequences and reactions naturalized and normalized for instance concerning “smart” work? How the most touched and vulnerable groups (young people, women, migrant workers) adapt to the “new” context? How new professional practices, requirements and claims are transforming the workplace and power relationships in labour market?