Regional employment resilience in Australia during the onset of COVID-19

Abstract The introduction of nation-wide COVID-19 social and economic measures in Australia had significant regional impacts including the performance of regional employment. While all regions were impacted in some way, many showed significant resistance and recovery to the, while others performed poorly. This paper is set in this context and presents an analysis of the factors that were associated with different regional employment resilience outcomes. Industry diversity together with industry type were important, with more diversified regions and those less reliant on the vulnerable jobs, particularly hospitality and tourism or sectors characterised by face-to-face contact in close quarters proved more resilient. The political-institutional landscape was also important in shaping resilience, with national level fiscal support aiding in resilience, while public health measures in regions with strict public health measures acted as a drag on resilience.