Psycho-economic Impact of Obligatory Job Switching During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Study of Hawkers in Bhubaneswar (India)

Abstract

There is no vaccine for Covid-19 and hence social distancing, quarantining and cleanliness are the means to avoid the attack of the deadly virus. It has sought for prolonged lockdown across the globe to check the spread of the pandemic caused due to Covid-19. Except essential activities, all other activities have been stopped. Small business units, street shops, small traders including hawkers are struggling a lot for their livelihood. The hawkers who trade in very small scale to maintain their living on daily revenue basis are finding it tough to manage. However, hawkers dealing with essential items like vegetables, Fish and Meat are allowed to trade during lockdown. Thus, the hawkers dealing with non-essential commodities are the hardest hit of the situation. As such, they don’t have savings to spend during lockdown and hence under compulsion, they are switching their job and trading essential commodities. Consequently, large number of hawkers dealing with vegetables and fruits are found now in Bhubaneswar, India. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the psychological and economic impact of compulsory job switching on switchers during the pandemic. Qualitative data collected by way of in-depth interviews and observation from 50 hawkers and 50 customers have been used. Besides, data collected on rating scale have been used to find Multiple Regression for assessing psycho-economic impact of obligatory switching of jobs on the hawkers.