Unemployment Rate in the ASEAN Countries

Before and During the Covid-19 Outbreak 

A research proposal submitted to the Senior High School Department

Saint Rose of Lima Catholic School, Inc

In partial fulfillment for the Strand General Academic Strand.

Alliah Baltazar
Dan Chrisler Marquez
Jade Krystal Tolentino
Joyce Ann Comida
Mark Angelo Juan
Marvie Sto. Domingo
Nicole Anne Nuñez
Sheena Paclarin
Saint Rose of Lima Catholic School, Inc.
Santa Rosa Nueva Ecija, Philippines.

Proposed: Date of title def. Approved: Date of final def. Accepted: Date of sign of
Principal
 DECLARATION OF THE AUTHORS

I, Alliah Baltazar, Dan Chrisler Marquez, Jade Krystal Tolentino, Joyce Ann Comida,
Mark Angelo Juan, Marvie Sto. Domingo, Nicole Anne Nuñez, Sheena Paclarin, hereby
declare that the work presented herein is original work done by me and has not been
published or submitted elsewhere for the requirement of a degree program.

Any literature date or work done by other and cited within this manuscript has given due
acknowledgement and listed in the reference section.
 Signature Page

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the General Academic Strand, this research, titled
Unemployment Rate in the ASEAN Countries Before and During the Covid-19 Outbreak, prepared and
submitted by Alliah Baltazar, Dan Chrisler Marquez, Jade Krystal Tolentino, Joyce Ann Comida, Mark
Angelo Juan, Marvie Sto. Domingo, Nicole Anne Nuñez, and Sheena Paclarin has been examine is
hereby recommended for approval and acceptance by the panel of examiners:

Ms. Ivette Pearl C. Corales

Research Teacher

May 2023

Approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the General Academic Strand, by the panel of
examining committee.

Name of the head panelist

Panel of Evaluators

Name of the panel member Name of the panel member

Member Member

Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Strand Humanities and Social Sciences.

Mrs. Judy Ann Aquino Mrs. Elsie Delos Reyes

Grade 12 Academic Coordinator Senior High School Academic

Coordinator

Mrs. Glenda E. Annang

School Directress
ABSTRACT

Keywords: write here the common words that can be shown in your abstarct

CHAPTER I

The Problem and its Background

Introduction

          Unemployment Rate is the percentage of people in labor force who are unemployed. The
labor force includes people who are either employed or unemployed. The researchers presume
that finding out who are unemployed and employed includes practical judgements, like counting
how many people have jobs in Manila. It was December 2019 when Covid-19 started to spread
until March of 2020 when the death toll in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
countries started to climb up. And it caused a pandemic to start, the lives of the people changed
including their lifestyle and how they make a living, not only in the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) but around the globe. Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Southeast Asian
countries in particular had to deal with difficult situation like high poverty rates and difficulty to
maintain physical distancing due to their population.  

           According to Tarrant (2013), the unemployed, when compared to those employed, gives less
contribution to the economy, and its rate is a known health concern. Unemployment can occur due to
imbalances in the labor market. When the pandemic started the unemployment began to rise, this
COVID-19 has brought ASEAN countries economic expansion to sudden halt. The employment rate
dropped and due to the lockdown during the pandemic, bills to pay were much higher than before. Some
people were able to work at home but unfortunately a large amount of people cannot. Those people who
are able to work during the pandemic are the frontliners which are the doctors, nurses, soldiers, police
officers and local government officials. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, those with
temporary, part-time, or full-time jobs are considered employed, as are those who perform at least 15
hours of unpaid work for a family business or farm.

          This research is being looked into to have a better understanding of high rates of unemployment
throughout the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) countries during the pandemic and the
people's situation before and during this global crisis. This study can inform its readers on how high and
how low the unemployment rate is during this pandemic and what countries has the most unemployment
rate. The purpose of this is brief, it is to access the labor market impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,
focusing on working-hour and employment losses, increased unemployment, inactivity and labor income
losses. This research also describes the policy response of ASEAN and its Member States. 

           Aside from the researcher's interest and the impact of unemployment on the lives of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) people, the main reason for carrying out this research
is to uncover emerging social problems brought by the world wide spread of Corona virus in the countries
of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and considering the increase of percentage of
unemployment before and during the pandemic.

Statement of the Problem 

       This study determines the unemployment of ASEAN countries before and during the COVID-19
outbreak. 

      Specifically, this study sought to address the following questions:

1.What is the percentage of people that have a jobs in ASEAN countries before the pandemic hits?

2.What is the total unemployment rate of ASEAN countries before (2016-2018) and during (2019-2021)
the covid 19 outbreak?  

3.How low did the employment rate drop on the first year of the pandemic (2019) in ASEAN countries? 

4.Which ASEAN country has the highest unemployment rate during the Covid-19 pandemic?
5.What type of jobs are the most affected during COVID 19 Pandemic?

Hypothesis 

H0 There is a significant difference between the unemployment rate before the pandemic hits and during
the pandemic. The unemployment rate increased as the pandemic hit.

  
Conceptual framework 

Figure 1 Research Paradigm

The conceptualized paradigm (Figure 1) shows the whole process of this research through an
input-process-output model. The input consists of specific variables that sought answers, such as people
who are affected by the sudden rise of the unemployment rate. This research study is composed of three
steps. The first step is using trustworthy websites. The second step is gathering information about the
unemployment rate in ASEAN countries and the last step is analysis of the data collected. The output of
this research is proposed based on the findings in the research study.

Significance of the study

This study will benefit the following groups: 

Employees: This research will help employees who want to know what each other went through during
the pandemic, many workers are seeking to return to work, when (2019) covid-19 started, the number of
employees fell and in After 3 years, everyone has been able to get up again this year (2022) many people
have returned to their jobs and many more jobs can be entered due to the decrease in the number of
Covid-19. 

Government: During those 3 years that we have experienced a pandemic, the one who helped our people
is our government that gives help to those in need, they give us many free services to meet the needs of
our people, they also gave us support to be able to give everyone a free vaccine to eradicate Covid-19. 

Unemployed: Many people lost their jobs during the pandemic and our economy went down, as time
goes by the number of Covid-19 is gradually decreasing, our country is becoming normal and the jobs
that you can apply for have expanded again and by testing again of unemployed people there is a
possibility that our economy will rise again and be healthy.

Working Student: This research is helpful to working students who have experienced and been stuck
working students. in our time now (2022) the number of covid-19 has been eradicated in the pandemic,
many students want to combine learning and being a worker with the spread of Covid-19 which has
affected the learning and work of and reduced, many working students have been able to work again, they
are meeting their educational needs and themselves.

The Future Researchers: This research will help future researchers who want to know ideas about what
happened and unemployment during and after the pandemic.

Scope and Delimitations 

In this research, the researchers will focus on analysis of Unemployment Rate in the ASEAN Countries
Before and During the Covid-19 Outbreak (2019-2022) as observed by the researchers.

Definition of Terms 

ASEAN- The ASEAN is a regional organization that aims to address economic and security cooperation
among its ten countries or members.

Labor Force- These are human beings or individuals who are either earning to make a living or
unemployed.

Unemployment- It can occur when a person is looking or searching for a job but is unable to find
work.

Pandemic- It is basically a global epidemic or a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease

over a whole country or the world at a particular time.

COVID-19- Is an acute disease in humans caused by a coronavirus, which is characterized

mainly by fever and cough and is capable of progressing to severe symptoms and in some case
death, especially in older people and those with underlying health conditions.

Employment- Is the state of having paid work or being able to work at a company or an
organization.
 Chapter ll
Review of Related Literature and Studies

          This chapter indicates ideas relevant to the present subject relating to the other literature and studies
briefly discussed to provide a foundation of the proposed system in a thematic format. It is composed of
three themes which are unemployment rate; unemployment rate in ASEAN countries; the increased rate
of unemployment during pandemic.

1. Unemployment Rate

            According to Conde (2022) factors which can analyze the labor force survey on the first quarter of
2022. The data used were acquired from the Philippine Statistics Authority. Labor force survey from first
quarter of 2020 up to first quarter 2022 shows the data of percentage rate of Labor force participation,
employment, underemployment and unemployment which will help the country to monitor. Several
formulas were used to get its rate.

            According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023) the unemployment rate represents the number
of the unemployed as a percentage of the labor force. Labor force are the human beings or individuals
who are either earning to make a living or unemployed.

          The pandemic has triggered one of the worst job crises since the great depression. There is great
danger that the crisis will increase poverty and widen inequalities (“The impact of COVID-!9 on
employment and jobs”, 2022).

                 Changes in aggregate demand, whether anticipated or unanticipated, have their greatest

short-run effect on real output and employment, not on prices. This idea is portrayed, for example, in
phillips curves that show inflation rising only slowly when unemployment falls. Keynesians believe that
what is true about the short run cannot necessarily be inferred from what must happen in the long run, and
we live in the short run. They often quote Keynes’s famous statement, “In the long run, we are all dead,”
to make the point (Unemployment: And Mr. Keynes’s Revolution in Economic Theory, 1937).

              The term “unemployment” is often misunderstood, it as it includes people who are waiting to
return to a job after being discharged, yet it does not include individuals who have stopped looking for
work in the past four weeks due to various reasons such as leaving work to pursue higher education,
retirement, disability, and personal issues. Also people who are not actively seeking a job but do want to
work are not classified as unemployed (“CFI”, 2022).

2. Unemployment Rate in ASEAN countries 

              According to Ward & Ford (2021), the labour market effects in Southeast Asia of the COVID-19
pandemic have attracted considerable analysis from both scholars and practitioners. However, much less
attention has been paid to the pandemic’s impact on legal protections for workers’ and unions’ rights, or
to what might account for divergent outcomes in this respect in economies that share many
characteristics, including a strong export orientation in labour-intensive industries and weak industrial
relations institutions. Having described the public health measures taken to control the spread of
COVID-19 in Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam, this article analyses governments’ employment-related
responses and their impact on workers and unions in the first year of the pandemic. Based on this
analysis, the researchers conclude that the disruption caused to these countries’ economies, and societies,
served to reproduce existing patterns of state–labour relations rather than overturning them.

           As of early 2021, the number of global deaths due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has
surpassed two million. In addition to the ongoing threat to health in developing Asia, the pandemic has
led to an unprecedented economic crisis, with millions of jobs lost and companies closed The
consequences on employment have been mixed, with substantial job losses in industries that have been
badly impacted, like tourism, retail, and construction, and modest job growth in industries that provide
higher-skilled services including IT, insurance, finance, health and pharmaceuticals (“Significant job
losses in developing Asia in 2020”, 2021).

            Conversely, the unemployment rate declines as the economy expands and businesses start to hire
people. It usually takes about six months to a year of economic expansion before the unemployment rate
starts to decline. Similarly, the unemployment rate starts to increase only after a few months of output
contraction. So, in any particular year the unemployment rate in a given country may be high (or low) if
the country is experiencing a recession (or an expansion). The average for 2021 based on 10 countries
was 3.03 percent. The highest value was in Brunei: 7.65 percent and the lowest value was in Cambodia:
0.61 percent. The indicator is available from 1991 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data
are available (“Unemployment rate-Country rankings”, 2021).

             The Philippines is among the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia but this does not mean
that Filipinos are better off, but this fast economic growth is meaningless because it is not translating to
enough jobs and incomes for ordinary Filipinos who are suffering unprecedentedly under the Duterte
administration and especially since the pandemic. There were 3.2 million Filipinos officially reported as
unemployed as of November 2021. The quality of work created by the rebounding economy is also
suspect. While employment increased by 2.9 million between January 2020 and November 2021, the
number of full-time workers is actually 389,000 smaller        
 (“IBON”, 2022). 
3. The Increase Rate of Unemployment During Pandemic

           The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has spread globally with, at the time of writing, over
180 million cases, over 4 million deaths and close to 500 thousand new cases per day leading to
disruption of the international economy. The speed and intensity of the crisis has been unprecedented,
resulting in businesses being closed, increasing unemployment and under employment, lockdowns,
curfews, the collapse of global supply chains and international and national travel being curtailed or
declining (Wheatley, 2021).

            Additionally, the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted our way of life and shaken labor markets in
the U.S. and the rest of the world. Between mid-March and the last week of April, the most critical period
for job separations, more than 33 million U.S. workers applied for unemployment insurance. As striking
as this figure is, initial claims have continued to show exceptionally large numbers.
In this article, I examine which industries and occupations were most affected by the pandemic between
February and April 2020 using Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) information on employment and
unemployment by industry and occupation (Dvorkin, 2020).

                 According to the Aarp (2021) the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the job
market in 2020, as many businesses laid off workers due to temporary shutdowns and other companies
shifted their entire staff to remote work. The biggest job losses came in April, when the nation’s
unemployment rate reached a staggering 14.7 percent, with 20.5 million people suddenly out of work.
The jobless rate that month for adults age 55 and older hit 13.6 percent. 

                 Nearly 20 million adults lived in households that did not get enough to eat, 12 million adult
renters were behind on rent, and some of the progress from late March appeared to have stalled as other
troubles continued to affect the economy, including expiring unemployment benefits and supply chain
problems that contributed to rising prices for many goods (“Tracking the Covid-19 Economy’s Effects on
Food, Housing, and Employment Hardships”, 2021).

                   Unemployment rises in 2020, as the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic

Total civilian employment fell by 8.8 million over the year, as the COVID-19 pandemic brought the
economic expansion to a sudden halt, taking a tremendous toll on the U.S. labor market. The
unemployment rate increased in 2020, surging to 13.0 percent in the second quarter of the year before
easing to 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter. Although some people were able to work at home, the numbers
of unemployed on temporary layoff, those working part time for economic reasons, and those
unemployed for 27 or more weeks increased sharply over the year (“BUREAU OF LABOR
STATISTICS”, 2021).
        

Synthesis
           
                       During the pandemic the unemployment in the ASEAN is at its highest point, and because
unemployment greatly affects the economic growth of a country, the ASEAN countries had a hard time
developing during the pandemic.  As the pandemic hits the rates of poverty increased and many lives
were lost even the elders and the children. The only difference based on the findings is that the
unemployment rate increased during the start of the year 2020 in March when the pandemic started. 
 Chapter lll

Research Methodology

                 This chapter discussed the different research methods that were used in the study. This chapter
presented a detailed research design, research locale, data gathering procedure, procedure of the study,
research ethics, and analysis data. 

Research Design
       
               This quantitative research study entitled “Unemployment Rate in the ASEAN Countries Before
and During the Covid-19 Outbreak” used Data Mining as a data source. Data mining is the process of
analyzing a large batch of information to discern trends and patterns (Twin, 2022). Quantitative research
is a type of research where it obtains and analyzes data in a countable manner (World Atlas, 2021). The
type of quantitative research that the researchers used in this study is descriptive research design.
According to Pedamkar (2020), it seeks to explain the status of an identified variable. This descriptive
research aims to explain and interpret status, settings, conditions, or events.

Research Locale

  The study entitled “Unemployment Rate in the ASEAN Countries Before and During the
Covid-19 Outbreak” was conducted in ASEAN countries which includes the ten countries: Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines,

Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam through data mining. The researchers conducted this
research to be informed about countries in ASEAN that are vulnerable to unemployment. Due to their
population, they also suffer high rates of poverty which worsen because of unemployment.

Data Gathering Procedure

 This study used data mining as a replacement in gathering information to answer the problem. Data
mining is the process of analyzing dense volumes of data to find patterns, discover trends, and gain
insight into how that data can be used. Data miners can then use those findings to make decisions or
predict an outcome (“Georgia Tech Boot Camp”, 2020). The researchers have obtained data from known
government sites or agencies  and reliable sites such as Bureau of Labor Statistics, Investopedia, Global
Economy, Trading Economics, Journals, Research Gate, Cambridge University Press, IBON and many
more.

Procedure of the Study

Figure 3. Procedure of the Study

Figure 3 shows the five steps undertaken to complete this study.

      First is data selection: the researchers identifies the reliable source of information that can be
collected. Selection of data is done through different gathering of data or information that is useful to the
researchers. Researchers then used the data available from the internet from different government sites
and reliable sites, research articles, journals and materials from google scholar, combined into a subset
and put together targeted data. Second is the data processing, which is done through inspecting the
targeted data. The researchers arranged the data according to its designated set to separate the data that
are not necessary. Third is the data transformation, the researchers removed some of the data to identify
the correct data relevant to the study problem from the processed data. Fourth is the data mining, it is
where the researchers see data patterns that made new set of data and put it in forms of figures,
specifically graphs. And last but not the least, the researchers interpret and evaluate the patterns
researchers saw in the study. Researchers will write the data found in the study and evaluate it to make
recommendations based on it.

Research Ethics 

                 Research ethics matter for scientific integrity, human rights and dignity, and collaboration
between science and society. These principles make sure that participation in studies is voluntary,
informed, and safe for research subjects (Bhandari, 2021). In other words research ethics are the
guidelines for conducting the research study. The researchers used data protection, respect for the
intellectual property to the rightful owners and honesty, the researchers gave patent rights to the rightful
owners of the data to avoid plagiarism. The researchers assure to give proper citations and references to
bestow the trustworthiness of this research study.

Statistical Treatment 

The statistical tool used in this study is percentage and frequency method to interpret the data effectively.
Formula:  Percentage (%) = F/n x 100
Where: %=Percentage
F=Frequency
n=Total number of respondents
           100=Constant value

According to Korb (2013), percentage is calculated by taking the frequency in the category divided by the
total number of participants and multiply by 100. These are the steps in creating the percentage frequency
distribution, first is identifying the number of total observations  that are represented; then add up the
number of total observations within each data point; and last, dividing the number of observations within
each data point by the total number of observations.
 Chapter IV
Presentation, Analysis, and Interpretation Data

This chapter provides the data gathered and the researcher’s in-depth analysis and interpretation of
data.

1. Percentages of people that have jobs in ASEAN Countries Before and During the Pandemic

Sources: International Labour Organization (ILO), The Diplomat, NIKKEIASIA, Ministry of Trade and
Industry, Statista

Figure 4. Percentage of People that have Jobs in ASEAN Countries Before and During the Pandemic

Figure 4 shows the percentage of labourers that have jobs in ASEAN countries before and during the
pandemic. The data presented shows that by 2019 the employment suddenly dropped due to the pandemic
and slowly rises as 2021 pass by. As shown in the data, 2015 has the lowest employment rate and 2022
being the highest.
 In conclusion, as shown in the chart above, employment started to drop during 2019 continuously at
the peak of 2020 and started to rise as 2021 passed by. According to a 2019 Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) report, the informal employment rate in the accommodation and food services
sector ranged from 81 percent to 99 percent in Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia. In the same four
countries, informal employment rates range from 70 percent to 97 percent in wholesale and retail trade,
and from 90 percent to 99 percent in construction.

In addition, the percentage was rather low in the midst of the pandemic as 10.6 million lost their jobs
due to the global pandemic. The poverty rate increased by 3.9 percentage points, or an additional 65
million workers (“NIKKEI ASIA”, 2021). The figure shows the unemployment rate of ASEAN countries
before and during the Covid-19. Brunei has the highest rate and cambodia is the lowest. In addition, the
pandemic had a great impact on unemployment not just in the ASEAN countries but also around the
world.

2.1 Total Unemployment Rate in the ASEAN Countries Before the Covid-19

Sources: The Global Economy, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Statista

Figure 5. Total unemployment rate in the ASEAN countries before the Covid-19
 Figure 5 shows the total unemployment rate of ASEAN countries Before the Covid-19. The data
gathered shows the unemployment rate throughout the ASEAN countries before the pandemic started. As
you can see in the 2018 graph above, Brunei has the highest unemployment rate and Cambodia being the
lowest.

In addition, the pandemic had a great impact on unemployment not just in the ASEAN countries but
also around the world. According to the Global Economy (2021) the average for 2021 based on 10
countries was 3.03 percent.

Moreover, these countries managed to survive even if their economic growth and employment dropped
by the sudden spread of a virus called “Novel Coronavirus Disease”. It spread globally with over 180
million cases and over 4 million deaths and gradually stopped.

2.2 Total Unemployment Rate in the ASEAN Countries During the Covid-19

Sources: Ministry of Trade and Industry, Statista

Figure 6. Total unemployment rate in the ASEAN countries during the covid-19

Figure 6 shows the total unemployment rate in the ASEAN countries during the covid-19. As
provided in the graph above, the unemployment increased during the outbreak.

In addition, one quarter of total employment in the Philippines is likely to be disrupted by the impact
of COVID-19 on the economy and labour market, either through decreased earnings and working hours
or complete job loss. This translates to about 10.9 million workers. Women account for 38 per cent of the
jobs at risk of COVID-19 disruption.

In conclusion, the pandemic has greatly affected our work as a labour rights institution. Due to
restrictions in mobility and the threat of contracting the virus, it has become very hard for us to do our
main task to monitor the situation of workers’ rights. Instead of field visits to conduct interviews and
check on our partner unions and other workers we had to do virtual consultations. This is very
challenging as the internet connection here is really poor and workers seldom have access and capacity
for virtual meetings and other activities. We also had to rely on mainstream news, government data and
reports from grassroots organizations in pursuing our work.

A decade-long economic expansion ended early in 2020, as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
pandemic and efforts to contain it led businesses to suspend operations or close, resulting in a record
number of temporary layoffs. The pandemic also prevented many people from looking for work. For the
first 2 months of 2020, the economic expansion continued, reaching 128 months, or 42 quarters. This was
the longest economic expansion on record before millions of jobs were lost because of the pandemic. In
terms of the increase in the unemployment rate, the labor market disruption in the early months of the
pandemic was greatest among younger workers. For people ages 16 to 24, for example, the
unemployment rate jumped to 3.5 percent in the second quarter of 2020, an increase of 8.9 percentage
points from the fourth quarter of 2019.

3. Employment Rate Drop on the First Year of the Pandemic in ASEAN Countries

Sources: Statista,

Figure 7. Employment rate drop on the first year of the pandemic in ASEAN countries

Figure 7 shows the employment drop on the first year of the pandemic in ASEAN countries. As
presented in the graph above, Brunei

This paper aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market in ten
ASEAN countries, namely Brunei, Lao PDR Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar,
Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.
 A flu virus first detected in China later affected neighbouring Southeast Asian countries. Although
the pandemic has varying implications and at varying levels, it has a negative impact on the ASEAN
economies. The labour market is affected as economic activities came to a halt when ASEAN
governments-imposed lockdowns or restricted movement. Job losses continue to escalate amid the
pandemic, vulnerable workers.

4. ASEAN country that has the Highest Unemployment Rate During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Countries Unemployment Rate Global Rank Available Data

Brunei 7.65 1 2021
Malaysia 4.61 2 2021
Indonesia 4.41 3 2021
Singapore 3.62 4 2021
Philippines 2.41 5 2021
Vietnam 2.17 6 2021
Burma 2.17 7 2021
Thailand 1.42 8 2021
Laos 1.26 9 2021
Cambodia 0.61 10 2021

Sources: International Labor Organization (ILO), The Global Economy, Statista

Figure 6. ASEAN Country that has the Highest Unemployment Rate

Figure 6 shows the highest unemployment rate in ASEAN countries. The data shows the country that
has the highest among the 10 countries of ASEAN region. As presented, Brunei has the highest
unemployment rate among the 10 countries in the region.

In addition, according to the International Labor Organization (2021) the pandemic induced job losses
will continue to drag down the region’s economies until well into 2022. As the unemployment rate
continues to drop, the working hours of laborers dropped as well, especially in Brunei, which has the
highest unemployment rate of 7.65.

As a result, inactivity continues to occur in ASEAN countries, especially in Brunei. Although,

Cambodia’s unemployment rate is not as high as Brunei, Cambodia is the opposite of Brunei because it
has the lowest unemployment rate.

In whole, the start of this virus gave ASEAN countries a major setback not just in terms of unemployment
but also how the ASEAN region lived.
 CHAPTER V

Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

This chapter presents the summary of findings, the conclusions derived from the findings, and
the recommendations given based on the findings of the study.

Summary
This study aimed to determine the unemployment rate in the ASEAN countries before and during
the covid-19 outbreak. The study sought to answer the highest unemployment rate in the
ASEAN countries, total unemployment rate before and during the covid-19 outbreak and
percentage of individuals that had jobs before the pandemic hits. The study mainly focused on
gaining knowledge about unemployment in the ASEAN region.

This study was conducted to determine whether there is a change in employment and
unemployment before and during the covid-19 outbreak. The study was answered through
research materials such as journals, professional sources, research articles, government
documents and some materials from google scholar. The researchers used descriptive method as
the type of quantitative research. The investigation for unemployment was conducted only in
ASEAN countries in the year 2022-2023. The 10 countries that are included in the research
study are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Vietnam and Burma. The data method used in the research study is data mining to select the
most helpful data from larger forms of data volume.

Findings

The following are the findings of the study:

As the researchers examined the unemployment in the ASEAN countries they discovered
that as the pandemic hits the unemployment in Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore,
Philippines, Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia increased. The highest
unemployment rate among the 10 countries in the ASEAN region is Brunei with an
unemployment rate of 7.65.

Conclusions

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn:
1. It is found that as the pandemic hits, the percentage of people that had jobs dramatically
dropped due to the pandemic.
2. According to the researchers’ findings Brunei was leading in the highest unemployment rate in
the ASEAN region.
3. The
4. The researchers discovered that out of the 10 countries in the ASEAN region, Brunei had the
highest unemployment during the outbreak.
5. There is clear evidence that service workers are the most affected in the midst of the
pandemic.

Recommendations
From the findings and conclusions given, the following recommendations are drawn:

Recommendation 1. Unemployment Insurance

Unemployment Insurance is a type of state-provided insurance that pays individuals,

although they only give money to those who meet the requirements. Unemployment insurance
and assistance schemes should be applied as soon as possible to all individuals who were
employed under a contract of service, and to individuals that were employed under a contract of
apprenticeship with money payment they can take that insurance for free from the government.

By using Unemployment Insurance, the unemployed were reduced the struggle of getting
back on their feet

Feasibility

The researchers offers a solution for the unemployment in the ASEAN countries

Benefits

There are many benefits of having unemployment insurance.It will help those that are
unemployed. It provides weekly payments to those individuals that meet the requirements
especially those that have been laid off due to shortage of available work. It can help the
unemployed to get back on their feet until they find a decent job. Unemployment Insurance made
the unemployed gbnh during the pandemic. It will coordinate with the SDG 8, decent work and
economic growth. Through this state-provided insurance, the lives of the unemployed will be
much easier. One of the benefits of unemployment insurance is economic growth since
unemployment insurance provides weekly payment to the unemployed until they find a decent
job, it increases labor force or workforce leading to economic growth.
 In this SDG, the official wording is to “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable
economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all” Through this
state-provided insurance, the unemployment will lessen and will be much easier for those
laborers that were laid off.

References

Angkor Research Cambodia (2020). The Effect of Covid-19 on Wage Workers . Phnom Penh:
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