One million+ Dominican Republic workers are still out of a job

Santo Domingo.- More than a million workers are still affected by the suspension of their labor contracts, but since the de-escalation began a total 248,020 who were suspended have returned, according to the Ministry of Labor.

The partial return of economic activities, after the Dominican government began the economic reopening on May 20, has reactivated the contracts of thousands of workers, although the labor office continues to receive daily new requests for suspension of labor contracts and incorporations of workers in the assistance plans that the government launched.

The coronavirus has affected a total of 1,092,176 employees due to the halt of non-essential operations across the country between March 19 and May 19. Of that amount, some 841,010 people currently receive government aid through the Employee Assistance Fund (FASE).

In April, the first month that the country was almost completely shuttered to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Dominican economy contracted 29.8%. The accumulated result for the first four months indicates a 7.5% decline, according to data from the Central Bank.