What is the big takeaway from some of the jobs that were created during Covid-19, such as social distancing ambassadors, contact tracers, digital ambassadors, and people who manned vaccination centres and built pop-up health facilities in short order?

It wasn’t just that they prevented the pandemic from spreading more widely, took care of the sick, and helped digitally challenged people and businesses acquire skills which had suddenly become critical. It was also a reminder that the Government can, at short notice, create jobs that serve important public purposes and which the private sector has no incentive to provide.