Factory Closures Research Articles

Quantifying the effect of striking with picketing on grocery store foot traffic

Unionized workers often use striking and picketing to raise attention to their grievances, dissuade customers from patronizing a business, and pressure employers in negotiations. Despite its wide use and recognition in popular culture, the effects of picketing and striking on retail business are not well understood. Adjacent literature has used cell phone tracking and other digital geo-tagging techniques to measure the effects of factory closures, COVID-19 restrictions, and stimulus payments on store patronage and economic activity. This article provides a case study using mobile geolocation data to quantify the loss of store foot traffic due to striking with picketing by analyzing the 2022 King Soopers strike in Colorado, USA. Using the historic foot traffic data of the past two years for 118 King Soopers locations, 78 of which went on strike, two SARIMA models were trained, and their predicted foot traffic values were compared to the actual values during the strike period. This technique indicates an average 47% decrease in foot traffic for striking stores and a 14% decrease in foot traffic for nonstriking locations.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENERGY AND FOOD PRICES IN THE EURO AREA

Over the past five years, global economic developments have been accompanied by a number of challenges. After a period of economic development, the global economy is facing a significant challenge caused by the COVID-19 crisis. There have been factory closures, border closures and supply chain disruptions. All this is reflected in the EU and the euro area. This was followed by a period of recovery and accelerating inflation. The war on the territory of Ukraine is also having a significant impact on inflationary processes. This further jeopardises the supply of energy resources and their prices begin to rise at a very high rate. The shock of rising energy prices has also been reflected in sharp increases in food prices. In the euro area, there have been periods when food prices have risen by more than 17% on an annual basis and energy products by almost 60% in some months. All these developments highlight the need to examine the links between energy and food prices. This is necessary in order to be able to take quick decisions in the event of new volatility in energy prices. The aim of the study is to establish a causal relationship between the dynamics of energy and food prices and the time lag over which food prices react to increases in energy prices. A correlation analysis is carried out and a causal relationship between the two indicators is established by regression analysis at different time lags. The hypothesis tested is that, over the last five years, there has been a strong month-to-month correlation between energy prices and food prices with a lag of six months. For the purpose of regression analysis and hypothesis testing, monthly data for food inflation and inflation for the group Electricity, gas and other fuels have been used. The data are taken from the structure of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices published by Eurostat. The detailed regression analysis shows that there is a statistically significant linear relationship between the price indices of the two product groups with a lag of six months. The Granger causality test confirms the results of the dynamic, correlation and regression analysis. The results of the test show not only the existence of a causal relationship, but also the ability of energy price changes to predict food price dynamics. All this leads to the conclusion that in periods of significant changes in energy prices, food prices can be expected to follow similar dynamics within six months. This relationship could be used both for forecasting and for taking specific economic measures.

Changed life worlds and survival strategies in disintegration after the regime change in Hungary: a former industrial town in the shadow of the factory giant

ABSTRACT In the literature of post-1989 Eastern European history, the disintegration of traditional industries and the decline of the factory towns that had been based on them is a well-known topic. Less attention has been paid to the transformation of the countryside or the villages that often served as the supportive network for the factory towns, a phenomenon that was also very typical of Hungary, where migrant or commuter workers became the subject of academic interest long before the collapse of state socialism. This study offers an international perspective and case study of the catchment area of Ózd, a former industrial and factory city located in northeastern Hungary that was once an important centre of Hungarian metallurgy and mining. In my analysis I address the related topic of how the decline of traditional industries affected this former industrial city and its surrounding villages, whose inhabitants mostly worked in industry until the industrial landscape and its society disappeared. This study focuses on Ózd and its surroundings, where the survival and sustenance of the population was directly threatened by the closure of collective farms, factories, plants and mines in the area.

The Economic Impact of Coronavirus to the Economic Fallout and the Education System of the World

This study delves into the substantial economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly focusing on the services sector and global trade. The services industry, estimating losses in the hundreds of millions, faces significant challenges due to pandemic-induced closures. Global trade has witnessed an unprecedented decline, with a 12.1% drop in April compared to March, exacerbating negative growth trends in the preceding months. Eurozone countries, experiencing a pronounced 13% decline in exports and imports, are disproportionately affected. Unlike the marginal decline since 2018 linked to the USA-China trade war, the current fallout prompts reevaluation of global economic dynamics. The pandemic-induced demand shock disrupts import-export volumes and prompts a reconsideration of global economic interactions. Concerns about reduced economic output, widespread factory closures, and a potential 2% decrease in the Chinese economy highlight the gravity of the situation. The study also emphasizes the Chinese government's swift response, employing fiscal stimulus, infrastructure spending, and rapid hospital construction in Wuhan. As the pandemic unfolds, the study poses questions about the potential transformation of the global economy in its aftermath.

A spatiotemporal analysis using expert-weighted indicators for assessing social resilience to natural hazards

Measuring social resilience to natural hazards is crucial for disaster risk reduction and sustainable development. In this study, we weighted 31 quantitative and qualitative resilience indicators using an expert-based procedure. The indicators were organized into five dimensions: social resilience, economic resilience, institutional resilience, and housing/infrastructural resilience, for measuring social resilience to natural hazards, with a specific focus on landslide vulnerability. We first modeled and mapped spatially explicit landslide vulnerability at the county level over a 20-year period in a mountainous region in western Iran using a random forest method. We next computed a county-level total resilience index (TRI) using the expert-weighted indicators in response to landslide vulnerability (i.e., physical resilience). Experts deemed total population density, proportion of employed economically active population, and total number of hospitals and health centers as the most important variables for imparting social resilience to landslide vulnerability. We found that increased unemployment rate, decreased bank deposits, and reduction of activities or closure of factories and workshops were the main causes of decreasing the resilience of the study counties over the past two decades. We suggest that enhancing the social resilience requires more efficient economic planning, development of investment, establishment of a disaster prevention system, and improved international relations.

ADVOCACY JOURNALISM: CASE STUDY ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN THADAGAM VALLEY, COIMBATORE

Journalists involved in environmental communication go beyond facts and figures to highlight their views on issues of conflict between man and nature. Propelled by the fluidic social media with audience as news makers, their advocacy sails into journalism rather than sticking to the basics of objectivity. Online media, once considered as clicktivism and impulsive, has evolved into a major mobilising force to fight against environmental degradation. Yet, it lacks the trust that traditional media upholds in India.Illegal mining of rich soil in the agricultural fields of Thadagam Valley in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu snowballed into an issue of exploitation of natural resource after South Zone’s National Green Tribunal registered a suo motto case against the clay brick manufacturers in 2021. Closure of the brick factories for over two years through interim orders of the courts was perceived as a big victory for the impleading activists. Advocacy campaigns run by the activists in the traditional and new media keep the cash rich business run for legal cover to restore their operations. At the same time, in-direct and external support from informed sources sustained the activists move further in their fight against pollution of environment and exploitation of natural resources. Wild elephants intruding into farmlands and villages also became an unbearable issue for the inhabitants as the regular paths also got disturbed by the dangerous developments created in the Valley.Influence of political economy, the difference in perspectives between the local and national media over an environmental issue, the stand of political and bureaucratic circles on development, episodic versus thematic coverage in the media, scientific and research back-ups on the issues communicated by the activists are discussed in this conflict-based campaign.

Supply chain strategies in the VUCA world

Companies use supply chain strategies to achieve competitive advantage in the market. Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) have been characteristics for the global supply chain in the past years. The COVID-19 pandemic led to factory and port closures, transport bottlenecks and lorry driver shortages, which have had an impact on the supply chain. The world has become less predictable, which requires companies to define supply chain strategies to cope with more risks and uncertainties. An updated supply chain strategy system integrating offerings, capabilities, vision and mission is described. A method to define the four types of capabilities — products, processes, equipment, digital tools — is explained. The approach to translate the strategy intent into action is based on the steps architecture, design, implementation and execution. This can be defined for the key capabilities that need to be aligned for the success of the business. An example explains the application of the approach in a company. Reviewing strategy can be now executed more regularly and standardised, accelerating the time to adapt the strategy to changed requirements. Defining and implementing the supply chain strategy are key tasks for many companies. A good supply chain strategy helps a company to improve the competitiveness in the markets. Understanding customer requirements and own capabilities, the supply chain strategy defines how the company will excel in the market and for the customer. As the supply chain is responsible for most customer-oriented processes, it typically translates the company strategy in an actionable format. Many companies struggle to define the supply chain strategy and evaluate it regularly to identify when this strategy needs to be updated. VUCA have characterised the supply chain world in the last years. In the last 18 months many additional supply chain disruptions have appeared and long-standing supply chain assumption have proved to be wrong. Many companies need to review and update their supply chain strategy to align their existing capabilities with the changed market requirements, acquire new capabilities and refocus their internal and external processes. This paper discusses how supply chain leaders can define a new strategy to cope with the changed situation.

Bangladesh's ready-made garments sector rebound: Revisiting gendered labor precarity and dependency

Thousands of ready-made garment (RMG) workers, frequently seen as Bangladesh's lifeline for economic growth and poverty alleviation, were sacked arbitrarily just weeks after the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. The widespread cancellation of existing orders, followed by factory closures and worker layoffs, triggered an unprecedented crisis for RMG workers, the vast majority of whom are women. As the industry is slowly recovering from the initial upheaval and on its way to rebound, this article revisits the impacts of the pandemic on the RMG workers in Bangladesh, who predominantly hails from impoverished rural regions of the country. Using first-hand data and secondary literature, this article offers a compelling account of the pandemic outbreak's disproportionate impact on female RMG workers. As we examine the effects on workers, we also look back at the structural hierarchies and power asymmetries embedded in this sector—a quintessential feature of the contemporary global economy. The article offers three distinct contributions to the emerging literature on the Covid-19 pandemic and its impacts on the changing labor spectrum in the global South. First, it explores the pandemic's broader gendered implications, revealing how it unevenly affected women. Second, it underlines how the pre-existing power dynamic within the global supply chain further exacerbated inequality, marginalization, and workers' precarity in Bangladesh's RMG industry. Lastly, it underscores the unequal interdependence between "core" and "peripheral" countries in the global production and labor landscape, highlighting the asymmetrical nature of their relationship.

The impacts airising from the COVID-19 pandemic on supply chains

The global COVID-19 pandemic brought about unimaginable consequences for businesses, with lockdown, quarantine and social isolation causing the closure of borders, factories and stores in several countries, which ultimately locked down the most diverse supply chains, demonstrating an important characteristic of society today: supply chains are highly dependent. Business analysts are citing that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on supply chains are unprecedented in recent business history, something that can be visualized with supply chains becoming partially paralyzed as a result of official measures to prevent the pandemic from spreading at a speed that health systems cannot meet. However, some academic works have already warned of the danger of business concentration in specific regions of the planet, where the main focus is the low cost of production, without addressing strategic objectives or focusing on strategic products. This work proposes a reflection on the location of suppliers in certain geographical areas, as this implies the use of long supply chains, proposing an alternative for the creation and planning of shorter supply chains for products that are classified as strategic.

Perceptions of the COVID‐19 pandemic's impact on communities and wildlife trade: Preliminary qualitative analysis from hunters in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos

AbstractThe COVID‐19 pandemic has accelerated efforts to engage critically with forest‐adjacent, rural, communities who rely on wildlife. We interviewed 109 hunters of wildlife across Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos regarding the effect the COVID‐19 pandemic has had on them, as well as within their communities. We found that “negative economic impacts” was a prevalent theme due to loss of employment, rising prices, and restrictions on trade resulting from city‐wide lockdowns, factory closures, and border closures. In Vietnam, hunting was stated to have increased as young men returned to their villages; however, in Vietnam and Cambodia trade in wildlife was believed to have decreased due to the inability of middlemen traders to travel easily. Our results from Laos illustrated general economic cost, but otherwise no impact of COVID‐19 on hunting and trade in wildlife. Here, we show the complex impacts of a pandemic, with contextually specific conservation positives (such as decreased trade), and conservation negatives (such as increased hunting to supplement loss of employment). We illustrate the importance of establishing sustainable, non‐wildlife‐dependent livelihoods within rural communities, to mitigate hunting and the potential for disease transmission, and the value in engaging with hunters to understand locally and spatially specific trends in global conservation challenges.

Cinema and city placement of Porto: from Manoel de Oliveira to Gabe Klinger

The adoption by local governments of neoliberal theories and strategic planning, which promotes the use of competitiveness scales and business marketing criteria in urban management, generated a series of changes in cities with the aim of reversing the closure of factories and shops and attracting new businesses, residents and tourists. In this context, the cinema became a media platform to project the image that wanted to promote of the city as a tourist destination and an innovative and creative scene, mainly through the action of the Film Commissions. This article analyses the relationship between cinema and the city of Porto, from the first film episodes to the co-financing by the local Film Commission of the film Porto, by Brazilian-born filmmaker Gabe Klinger. The study contrasts the way in which local director Manoel de Oliveira projected the city of Porto in his works, with the objective and qualitative analysis of Gabe Klinger’s film. Among the conclusions, we can mention how the cinema shows over time the functional changes of the modern city and that the projected image must have a clear relationship with the sense of place of the filmed city.

Impacts of COVID-19-Related Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions on Mobility and Accidents in Bangladesh.

Transport plays a major role in spreading contagious diseases such as COVID-19 by facilitating social contacts. The standard response to fighting COVID-19 in most countries has been imposing a lockdown—including on the transport sector—to slow down the spread. Though the Government of Bangladesh also imposed a lockdown quite early, it was forced to relax the lockdown for economic reasons. This motivates this study to assess the interaction between various non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) policies and transport sector outcomes, such as mobility and accidents, in Bangladesh. The study explores the effect of NPIs on both intra- and inter-regional mobility. Intra-regional mobility is captured using Google mobility reports which provide information about the number of visitors at different activity locations. Inter-regional, or long-distance, mobility is captured using vehicle count information from toll booths on a major bridge. Modeling shows that, in most cases, the policy interventions had the desired impact on people’s mobility patterns. Closure of education institutes, offices, public transport, and shopping malls reduced mobility at most locations. The closure of garment factories reduced mobility for work and at transit stations only. Mobility was increased at all places except at residential locations, after the wearing of masks was made mandatory. Reduced traffic because of policy interventions resulted in a lower number of accidents (crashes) and related fatalities. However, mobility-normalized crashes and fatalities increased nationally. The outcomes of the study are especially useful in understanding the differential impacts of various policy measures on transport, and thus would help future evidence-based decision-making.

Drifting in China’s porcelain capital: self-realization and alternative-seeking of the self-employed craft workers in Jingdezhen

Following the decline and closure of government factories in Jingdezhen, the Chinese capital of porcelain, a recent wave of migrant self-employed craft workers known as “Jing drifters” (jingpiao 景漂) has faced a dilemma: whether to follow independent craft practices and remain vulnerable, or hire workers, automate some steps, and cut corners to make more money. Recent government-led redevelopment plans in Jingdezhen are introducing spatial reconfigurations and a new regulation of the manufacturing process. Residents have diverse opinions on these government-led plans and show that these changes have exacerbated the instability in the work of the self-employed craft workers. Drawing on participant observation, in-depth interviews, and diaries, I also report a changing social dynamic in response to these transformations, which takes place where the individual craft workers, the local craft community, the state-endorsed enterprise capitalists, and the state meet. By contextualizing the individual craft workers in such a changing context as well as in their craft communities where a self-reliant and carefree lifestyle narrative is prevalent, I find that the self-employed craft workers can be self-reliant, self-organized, and mutually supportive despite the vulnerability and instability in their work and in the industry and city. This suggests the possibility of a self-sufficient alternative lifestyle that parallels that of the Chinese neo-liberal consumerist society and of the state-led renaissance narrative about Jingdezhen.

Socio-Economic Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Nigerian Worker: An Empirical Analysis

The current study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers in Nigeria from a socioeconomic standpoint. Nigeria remains one of the most highly affected countries on the African continent; hence the Nigerian government has emulated other countries in taking measures to curtail the spread of the pandemic. These measures include but are not limited to lockdown orders, due to which individuals stop going to work, as well as the closure of factories and businesses. The lockdown order has been applauded for being effective in curtailing the spread of the virus; however, it is deemed to adversely affect the Nigerian workers in both the public and private sectors. Many authors have contributed to literature related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is still a paucity of literature investigating the socio-economic effect of the lockdown order on Nigerian workers. To the best of our knowledge, there is no empirical study that investigates the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic impact on civil servants and bankers. The study adopted a survey research design and primary data gathered through the survey was analyzed. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire, which was filled in online using Google Forms. The collected data was analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and t-test statistical tools. The findings of the study revealed that COVID-19 has an inverse and minimal effect on the socio-economic condition of public and private sector workers. The research proposed, among other things, that the government should place mechanisms to curb excessive price increase of products and services, ensuring that workers in both the public and private sectors are not exploited during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A fruitless exercise? The political struggle to compel corporations to justify factory closures in Canada

ABSTRACT This paper examines the political history of the failed struggle to require companies to justify their plant closing decisions in Canada’s industrial heartland of Ontario. Demands for the public review of plant closing decisions began, locally, in the auto town of Windsor in the 1950s and 1960s and reached Toronto with the closure of Dunlop Tire in 1970. Another wave of closures struck in 1980, this time reaching deep into rural and small-town Ontario as well as larger industrial towns and cities, generalizing concern. The resulting Select Committee on Plant Shutdowns and Employee Adjustment, created by the Ontario legislature, took it upon itself to conduct the kind of public review of recent closures that was long demanded. Due to the strength of the political opposition to any interference with management rights, it was essential that proponents could point to precedents in Western Europe. Trade unionists also grounded their argument in favour of government regulation in the moral economy idea that long-service workers accrued a proprietary right to their jobs.

Impact of post-COVID-19 on the hospitality tourism

Within few weeks, when the first reported COVID-19 case in the city of Wuhan, China, the pandemic has spread quickly across nations and tourism has been regarded as the main case in the spread of corona virus worldwide. With no vaccine and limited medical facilities, it plunged the economy into various economic crisis. Both the purchase and production has come to an end due to factory closures; travel bans and border closures. The most severe disruption of the global economy is the national quarantines and unprecedent global restrictions on traveling, bringing international travel to a standstill. As a consequence, tourism operations of many countries have been ceased in March, 2020. According to UNWTO research, 100% UNWTO countries have imposed restrictions on travelling in response to the pandemic and international tourism has completely been closed and the borders were sealed by 72% nations. Due to the cancellation of business trips, holidays, and weekend gateways, tourism industry is heavily impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. So, in this paper we have discussed the impact evaluation of COVID-19 pandemic on tourism industry and its branches. We have reviewed research papers published in 2020, OECD and UNWTO reports.

‘Worn out’: debt discipline, hunger, and the gendered contingencies of the COVID-19 pandemic amongst Cambodian garment workers

ABSTRACT Drawing on 203 quantitative surveys with women workers in Cambodia and a further set of semi-structured interviews with 60 original participants, this paper is one of the very first to present empirically grounded research from garment workers on the financial challenges of navigating the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We show how in the making of clothes to be worn by Western consumers, poorly paid garment workers are reducing their eating to repay long-term debts and those newly taken on to cope with wage reductions resulting from factory closures, suspensions, and cuts in working hours. In its examination of this phenomenon, the paper improves understanding of the gendered contingencies of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ‘wearing out’ of garment workers through their attempts to reproduce life under (pre-existing) conditions of privation. We argue that the debt-hunger nexus is not new but reflects problems within Cambodia’s capitalist development, and capitalism itself, as the costs of social reproduction and risk are privatised and financialised in the body politic. The COVID-19 pandemic is consolidating relations with financialised life such that they will outlast its duration and have long-lasting implications for workers and their families globally.

ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY OF LOCALLY PRODUCED SACHET WATER IN ULI AND IHIALA MUNICIPAL AREAS OF ANAMBRA STATE, SOUTH EASTERN NIGERIA

BACKGROUND: The shortage of potable water has forced the public dependence on packaged sachet drinking water, popularly called “pure water”. This widespread acceptance introduced a lucrative business where corners are sometimes cut in its production, treatment and packaging. The aim of this study was to assess the physical and bacteriological quality of sachet water sold in Uli and Ihiala area of Anambra State, Nigeria.
 MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 10 samples were analysed, a batch of 5 purchased at the point of production and another 5 from vendors. The membrane filter technique was used for the total coliform count and total heterotrophic count.
 RESULTS: Turbidity values fell below the WHO standard of 5 NTU. All samples were colourless and odourless, all but two (A and D) were tasteless. All samples showed presence of bacteria with total heterotrophic count ranging from 33.5 – 60.0 cfu/ml and total coliform 2.0 – 5.0 cfu/ml. Organisms isolated include Bacillus spp., Klebsiella spp., E. Coli, Pseudomonas spp., Salmonella spp., Citrobacter spp. and Staphylococcus spp. E. Coli was present in only one sample (E). A corresponding decrease of bacterial isolates was observed in batches A to B, Bacillus spp. and Klebsiella spp. was however present in both batches. Probably due to the ability of these organisms to survive on little nutrient, also the decline can be attributed to effect of temperature and possible exposure to ultraviolet light rays.
 CONCLUSION: All the water samples analysed were contaminated, as coliform detected exceeded the WHO standard for drinking water. We recommend routine quality assessment of sachet manufacturing factories and closure of unlicensed factories/ companies where applicable

THE ECONOMY OF WAR AND POSTWAR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: WORLD AND UKRAINIAN REALITIES

The subject of the research is the study of global economic growth during the war in Ukraine, the analysis of the war economy and the postwar economic development in Ukraine. Methodology. The study used general scientific methods, in particular: theoretical generalization; methods of positive and normative analysis and statistical analysis. The aim of the work is the process of studying the world economic growth during the war in Ukraine, the analysis of the war economy and the postwar economic development in Ukraine. The conclusion of the study. The forecast for global economic growth during the war in Ukraine assumes that the rate in developed economies will reach a 38-year high of 5.7 percent, while price growth in developed and developing countries will accelerate to 8.7 percent, the fastest decline since the global financial crisis of 2008. The acceleration is projected to decline by 2.5 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, starting in 2023. Global socioeconomic development will depend on the most significant factors: energy and food contributed to rising inflation in 2021, when oil and gas supplies were constrained after several years of restrained investment and geopolitical uncertainty; rising food prices will affect every country in the world as extreme weather has reduced crop yields and rising oil and gas prices have increased fertilizer costs; factory closures, port restrictions, ship congestion, container shortages and staff shortages will continue to disrupt some sectors; labor shortages, especially in high-contact industries, are driving up wages, although inflation has caused them to fall. It has been researched that according to estimates of national and other international expert institutions, the reduction of Ukraine's GDP in 2022 will be 35%. The analysis showed that in April 2022, regions where significant hostilities are taking place or part of the territory is under occupation account for almost 20 percent of Ukraine's GDP, in particular: Kharkiv – 6.11 percent, Donetsk – 4.89 percent, Zaporizhzhia – 3.96 percent, Mykolaiv – 2.29 percent, Luhansk – 1.02 percent, Kherson – 1.62 percent. It is established that during the three months of the war in Ukraine there was a deep decline in economic activity, and the introduction of a number of tax changes to mitigate the shock in the economy led to a significant reduction in tax revenues. The directions of post-war economic growth for Ukraine are suggested.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and behavioral restrictions on electricity consumption and the daily demand curve in Turkey

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has severely impacted many sectors, including the electricity sector. The reliability of the electricity sector is critical to the economy, health, and welfare of society; therefore, supply and demand need to be balanced in real-time, and the impact of unexpected factors should be analyzed. During the pandemic, behavioral restrictions such as lockdowns, closure of factories, schools, and shopping malls, and changing habits, such as shifted work and leisure hours at home, significantly affected the demand structure. In this research, the restrictions and their corresponding timing are classified and mapped with the Turkish electricity demand data to analyze the estimated impact of the restrictions on total demand and daily demand profile. A modulated Fourier Series Expansion evaluates deviations from normal conditions in the aggregate demand and the daily consumption profile. The aggregate demand shows a significant decrease in the early phase of the pandemic, during the period March–June 2020. The shape of the daily demand curve is analyzed to estimate how much demand shifted from daytime to night-time. A population-based restriction index is proposed to analyze the relationship between the strength and coverage of the restrictions and the total demand. The persistency of the changes in the daily demand curve in the post-contingency period is analyzed. These findings imply that new scheduling approaches for daily and weekly loads are required to avoid supply-demand mismatches in the future. The long-term policy implications for the energy transition and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic experience are also presented.