TheOfficial Training Manual (OTM)highlights the profound social and economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing its unequal effects across income groups and regions. It states:

“The pandemic exacerbatedexisting inequalitieswithin and between countries, disproportionately affecting low-income households, informal workers, and vulnerable populations.”

It further notes that job losses were concentrated in sectors with high face-to-face contact and limited digitalization, leading to what it calls a “social divergence” between knowledge-based and manual-labor economies. Meanwhile, government interventions such as furloughs and stimulus programs “did not fully offset thestructural widening of inequality.”

Therefore, while offshoring (B) decreased due to supply chain localization, and employment opportunities (C) declined globally, onlyinequality (A)increased. This finding aligns with both ESG social factors and the “S” in ESG, reinforcing the social importance of inclusive recovery measures post-COVID.

????Reference:2021-Final-Book.pdf, Chapter 4 — Social Factors (Global Health Crisis and Inequality section).