Abstract
The ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) established a joint task force to assess the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the region’s economies. The EBRD/ILO Task Force was invited by the Social Council in Montenegro in 2020 to support the development of policy responses when the public health threat developed into a global pandemic with economic consequences. The Task Force published its Rapid Assessment Report on the impact of COVID-19 on employment and the labour market in Montenegro. The report provides evidence that show that the lockdown measures had severe impacts on employment. In seven sectors, 36,000 jobs are at immediate risk, which could imply a loss of 15 percentage points in the employment rate. The report offers six policy options for the country for supporting enterprises, jobs and incomes during the reactivation phase.