Financial Challenges Faced by Employees in the UK during Covid-19

FINANCIAL CHALLENGES FACED BY THE EMPLOYEES IN THE UK DURING COVID-19 AND THEIR SOLUTIONS
Abstract
The outbreak of coronavirus imposed severe economic challenges for the United Kingdom. As a result, many workers were retrenched, had their wages reduced, and did not get contract renewals. In this regard, they experienced numerous financial challenges that harmed their wellbeing and their families. Due to the exploratory nature of this research, a qualitative technique will be used. Secondary data will be collected from different journals, newspapers, websites and government records to explore the financial challenges employees from different industries have faced and the techniques corporate executives, policymakers, and government officers in the United Kingdom have used during the lockdown to deal with, adapt to, and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: financial challenges, coronavirus, income, wages.
Financial Challenges Faced by The Employees in the UK During Covid-19 and Their Solutions
Introduction
On December 19, 2019, the first coronavirus case was recorded in Wuhan, China, and later followed by massive cases that caused negative impacts across the globe. With the perceived risks associated with the disease, many governments forced their people to take measures that would curb the further spread of the condition. The virus was reported to be transferred through minute droplets from an infected person and had a higher mortality rate. This sparked among government officials, which mandated the implementation of lockdowns and other protocols to prevent the spread of the virus. WHO reports indicate that more than 380 million people have been affected by the diseases, with about 5.6 million succumbing to death (WHO no date). In the United Kingdom alone, it is reported that the virus has affected more than 17 million individuals and caused more than 150 000 deaths (WHO no date). In order to curb further damage, the government created measures that forced businesses to close down for several weeks in order to limit the movement of people. Moreover, many businesses were forced to reorganize their business structures, including human resource practices, customer relationships, supply chain management, and financial management (OECD and ILO, 2020).
Through the restructuring of the business, there were diverse negative impacts on the welfare of workers. As reports from several experts demonstrated, many businesses had to retrench their workers while others reduced their payments to cope with the challenges in the economy. Since it was a new virus, the coronavirus pandemic magnified the issues of financial insecurity across society (OECD and ILO, 2020). The impact on the employees has been understudied because many people are focused on the economic impacts and how organizations manage the pandemic. Therefore, it is vital to study these components to understand the issues surrounding employee financial wellbeing or challenges during and after the pandemic in the United Kingdom. In many regions across the world, including the United Kingdom, there were many retrenchments, salary reduction, business closure, and reduced working hours. These are aspects that have direct financial implications on workers. Therefore...