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

Background

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, 2010-2011 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%

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%

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

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

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

Disaster impacts Country Australia New Zealand Japan China Canada When November 2010 to January 2011 4 September 2010 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 15.7 billion NZD 40 billion JPY 16.9 trillion RMB 845 billion CAD 500 million Source: (Parker & Steenkamp, 2012), (Parkatti, 2013) and case study data

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

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

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

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 Email: yan.chang@auckland.ac.nz