1. Effects of natural disasters on displaced workers
i-Rec Conference 2017
Dr (Alice) Yan Chang-Richards
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
The University of Auckland

2. Background

3. Lessons learned from past events
Economy
Disaster event
Losses and repair cost (US$)
GDP%
Indonesia
Indian Ocean tsunami, 2004
4.45 billion
2.3%
U.S.
Hurricane Katrina, 2005
125 billion
1.2%
China
Wenchuan Earthquake, 2008
150 billion
1-3%
Chile
Chilean earthquake & tsunami, 2010
30 billion
17-20%
Australia
Queensland floods,
20 billion
1.5%
New Zealand
Canterbury earthquakes, 2010 and 2011
40 billion
19%
Japan
Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, 2011
200 billion
2.5-3%

4. Job displacement: A recurrent theme of disasters
Economy
Affected population
Displaced
Displacement
job losses
Job loss %
Indonesia
1 million
811,409
81%
600,000
60%
U.S.
2.5 million
40%
400,000
16%
China
46 million
40 million
87%
10 million
22%
Chile
800,000
32%
15,000 6%
Australia
200,000
150,000
75%
5,000
2.5%
New Zealand
460,000
9,200 2%
26,800
5.8%
Japan
4 million
383,000
9.6%
841,000 jobs affected
21%

5. Workforce policy strategies in development
Agency
Priorities of workforce strategies
Context
World Bank
• Social safety nets
• Social insurance
• Labour market programmes
Crisis UN
• Job creation
• Re-integration of workforce into livelihood
Post-conflict
ILO
• Quality of jobs (decent work)
• Promotion of skills (training and education, capital assistance to SMEs and self- employed)
• Social protection
General labour employment support & post-disaster
OECD
• Social protection – especially for the most vulnerable (youth, low-skilled and immigrants)
• Up-skilling and labour productivity
General labour employment policy & new projects looking at effects of disasters on displaced workers
APEC
• Skills promotion
General labour employment policy & new projects looking at sound workforce strategies in disaster settings

6. Research objectives Job
This research aims to investigate the patterns of impact that disasters have on the workforce, and the employment and livelihood issues that emerge during post-disaster recovery.
Family
Housing
Job
Practical outcome: To assist decision makers in developing policy settings and measures to support employment and social cohesion in disaster circumstances, thereby sustaining the capacity for livelihood recovery.
Livelihood

7. Comparative case study approach
Research Methodology
Comparative case study approach
Case study 1: the 2010 and 2011 Queensland floods in Australia
Case study 2: the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes in New Zealand
Pre-disaster labour market conditions
Characteristics of the natural disaster event
Impacts of the event on the labour market/workforce
Case study 3: the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
Case study 4: the June 2013 Southern Alberta floods in Canada
Case study 5: the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China
Case studies

8. Disaster impacts Country Australia New Zealand Japan China Canada When
November to January 2011
4 September and 22 February 2011
11 March 2011
12 May 2008
June 2013
Event
Floods
Earthquake
Earthquake and tsunami
Population affected
200,000
460,000
400,000 most directly affected
46 million
100,000 in Southern Alberta
% of regional population
4.4%
81.3%
4.3%
52.5%
2.5%
Human losses 36
185
15,883
69,227 4
Damage estimates
AUD billion
NZD 40 billion
JPY trillion
RMB 845 billion
CAD 500 million
Source: (Parker & Steenkamp, 2012), (Parkatti, 2013) and case study data

9. Affected sectors/industries
Sectors that were most affected by disasters
Tourism & hospitality
Retail trade
Food services
Manufacturing
Agriculture
Aquaculture & fishery
Sectors
U.S.
Indonesia
New Zealand
Chile
China
Japan
Australia
Tourism *
Education
Hospitality
Retailing
Agriculture
Aquaculture
Manufacturing
SMEs

10. Recurring workforce issues
Job and worker displacement
Loss of income
Disruptions to workers’ livelihoods
Creating additional participation barriers
women
youth
Other Vulnerable: disabled, low-skilled
4th September earthquake 2010
22nd February earthquake 2011

11. Implications – areas of focus
Challenges
Areas of focus
Vulnerable sectors
Help disaster impacted areas to build systems for business continuity planning and social protection appropriate to capacity and context
Participation barriers for workers
Strengthen focus on understanding the barriers for workforce to labour force participation & productivity enhancement
Skills gap
A continued investment in skills development and knowledge building, including sharing relevant good practice in case study countries
Weak link to the effects of displacement
Emphasize a systems approach to understand the ripple effects of displacement on workers and their families as a goal of emergency preparedness when designing labour market programs

12. Thank You! Acknowledgement
This research was funded by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat (Project: Building Natural Disaster Response Capacity: Sound Workforce Strategies for Recovery and Reconstruction, Project Number: HRD 01/2012A). Authors would like to thank officials from the Governments in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada and China for assisting with collection of case study data.
Further questions or discussion, please contact
Dr Alice Chang-Richards