Sydney’s lockdown could cost casual workers $114m: experts

Finance experts have revealed the economic impact of Sydney’s two-week lockdown on vulnerable workers – and the average wage losses are grim.

Sydney’s two-week lockdown is set to deliver a cruel blow to casual workers in excess of $100m in lost income, new research has revealed.

Sydney’s struggling casual work force is comprised of 466,500 people, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, who earn an average weekly wage of $609.

During Sydney’s 14-day lockdown – a response to the Covid-19 outbreak which has grown to 195 cases since June 16 – a casual employee unable to work stands to lose $1218 in income.

If 20 per cent of casual staff were unable to work through the lockdown – the same percentage of casual workers who lost their jobs between February and May last year – the wage loss would total $114m.

Sydney is almost empty due to the 14-day lockdown. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

A customer outside a coffee shop that has swapped to takeaway only in line with new COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

Taylor Blackburn, personal finance specialist at comparison site Finder, said the effects of lockdowns were devastating on an already vulnerable industry.

“New lockdown restrictions across Sydney will unfortunately have consequences for the state’s economy, particularly for small businesses and casual workers” he told NCA NewsWire.

“Casual workers by nature have no paid leave entitlements, meaning every day they spend not working is money out of their own pockets.

“Employees in hospitality and retail make up around one-third of casual workers in Australia, making them the most vulnerable in the lockdown.

“We also know that just under half of casual workers are younger than 25 and don’t have the same level of savings as older Australians to sustain themselves without income for very long.”

According to the data crunched by Finder, female workers (24 per cent) are likelier to be on a casual contract than their male counterparts (20 per cent).

Blackburn said the grim reality was small business owners and casual staff needed an emergency savings fund specifically for lockdowns, until the country was fully vaccinated.

“Until the majority of Australians are vaccinated, snap lockdowns will unfortunately be something that Australian consumers and businesses will have to deal with,” he said.

“These kinds of situations are exactly what emergency savings funds are for; having at least three months worth of living expenses in the bank means you’ll be able to afford the necessities while you’re not working.”

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet announced a relief fund for small businesses this week, but there is no guarantee the grants would properly trickle down to casual staff.

John Hewson, an economist with the Australian National University, told NCA NewsWire the current lockdown could be more crippling than last year’s initial response to the start of the pandemic.

“In big lockdowns last year many individuals and businesses actually did okay, or even better than they might have done pre-Covid due to significant government financial support (Jobkeeper relief),” he said.

“These more recent more short-term lockdowns are attracting lesser financial support, so weekly costs could be greater.”