Unemployment in the time of COVID-19: A research agenda
Résumé
This essay reflects the collective input from members of a community of vocational psychologists who share an interest in
psychology of working theory and related social-justice oriented perspectives (Blustein, 2019; Duffy, Blustein, Diemer, & Autin,
2016). Each author of this article has contributed a specific set of ideas, which individually and collectively reflect some promising
directions for research about the rampant unemployment that sadly defines this COVID-19 crisis.
Our efforts cohere along several assumptions and values. First, we share a view that unemployment has devastating effects on the
psychological, economic, and social well-being of individuals and communities (Blustein, 2019). Second, we seek to build on the
exemplary research on unemployment that has documented its impact on mental health (Paul & Moser, 2009; Wanberg, 2012) and its
equally pernicious impact on communities (International Labor Organization, 2020b). Third, we hope that this contribution charts a
research agenda that will inform practice at individual and systemic levels to support and sustain people as they grapple with the
daunting challenge of seeking work and recovering from the psychological and vocational fallout of this pandemic.
The advent of this period of global unemployment is connected causally and temporally to considerable loss of life and illness,
which is creating an intense level of grief and trauma for many people. The first step in developing a research agenda for un-
employment during the COVID-19 era is to describe the nature of this process of loss in so many critical sectors of life. A major
research question, therefore, is to what extent does this unemployment crisis vary from previous bouts of unemployment which were
linked to economic fluctuations? In addition, exploring the role of loss and trauma during this crisis should yield research findings
that can inform psychological and vocational interventions as well as policy guidance to support people via civic institutions and
communities.