by issuing debt. through late february and early march, as the covid event began to unfold in europe, these mechanisms mostly functioned as expected. however, only a few days, the surge in demand for cash — apparently triggered by the world health organization ’ s designation of the virus as a global pandemic on march 11 and 2 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches simultaneous lockdowns in a number of countries — overwhelmed dealers and impaired price discovery. repurchase rates increased sharply and liquidity in securities markets declined precipitously. bid - ask spreads increased, in some cases to levels greater than those observed during the global financial crisis. as traditional sources of liquidity became limited, market participants had to either pay a premium for cash, or search for it in other ways. a surprise in government bond markets one alarming feature of the covid event involved the way in which the shock propagated through core government bond markets. amid increased demand for cash and short - dated assets, institutional investors sold large volumes of longer - dated bonds — including those usually considered as most liquid — in favor of cash. the price of government bonds relative to futures prices decoupled, putting significant volumes of derivatives trades out of the money and thereby increasing margin calls. global authorities sold a significant number of government bonds, perhaps to satisfy u. s. dollar funding needs or to stabilize foreign exchange rates. all together, the pressure on longer - dated government bonds was sufficient to impair pricing for some of these bonds in this normally deep and liquid market, an outcome that we would not normally expect. negative feedback loops the mismatch last spring in the demand and supply of cash exhibited some self - reinforcing tendencies. as market participants became more risk averse and hoarded liquidity, they became unwilling to provide short - term unsecured funding. dealers reached their limits in holding large amounts of securities — in some cases internal risk limits, in other cases limits imposed by regulation — rendering them unable or unwilling to absorb significant asset sales from other market participants. as companies were increasingly unable to gain access to traditional sources of liquidity, they turned to banks and drew on credit lines, decreasing cash held by banks that they could have used for other lending. stresses in debt markets also fed into one another. widespread forced sales of securities, combined with limited dealer intermediation contributed to increased volatility and illiquidity. in particular, the increased volatility led to margin calls,

, for those working or aspiring to work in financial services. we hope this can be a starting point for a holistic future skills framework at the national level to unlock greater benefits and synergies for cross - sector talent mobility ; and continuous efforts are being made to raise the professionalism of the workforce through higher standards of professional programmes and qualifications for various career pathways. these range from risk specialists in banking to loss adjusters for insurance. nonetheless, some job losses may be inevitable due to a shift in the division of labour between humans and machines. 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches therefore, a whole - of - industry approach is crucial : first, we want to ensure appropriate supporting mechanisms are in place ; second, we want to minimise the impact of job displacement on livelihoods ; and third, we want to support an orderly transition of the affected workforce to jobs in other organisations or economic sectors. such support may include, among others, appropriate compensation, reskilling opportunities and outplacement assistance. employing a'good jobs strategy'to unlock the value of human potential my next point focuses on employing a'good jobs strategy'to unlock the value of human potential in our workforce. if there's one thing the pandemic taught us, it's the need for adaptability in overcoming challenges. more so in today's workforce, with the multifaceted issues arising from technology, sustainability, demographics and other structural changes. consequently, talent planning and management must move in tandem with these changes. what do i mean by that? several priorities are fundamental to pave the way for a better, more productive and rewarding future of work : first, leveraging analytics to forecast talent needs and to better measure workforce performance and productivity. by regularly analysing and monitoring employee performance and engagement metrics, organisations can determine the strategic talent acquisition, development and management decisions required. this will prepare the workforce for the challenges they will face going into the future. second, developing a fast, agile and coherent workforce investment strategy. several key elements include identifying workers who are being displaced from their roles, establishing appropriate internal committees to manage the displacement, funding reskilling and upskilling, motivating employee engagement in this process, and tracking the long - term success of such transitions. this should also account for specific needs by segments such as older workers, mothers returning to the workforce and contract employees. third, introducing agile hr and organisational policies to enhance workforce flexibility and productivity