This paper draws on a population-representative Quality of Life Survey conducted biennially by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory to explore changes in socio-economic characteristics of formal and informal workers in Gauteng, South Africa. The most recent datasets are used to better understand the changes and differences between formal and informal workers’ outcomes in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and preceding period. While both sectors are negatively impacted by socio-economic shocks, the resultsshow that respondents in the informal sector are disproportionately affected relative to those in the formal sector and the ability to recover is unevenly distributed. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of containment measures resulted in job loss and reduced working hours and salaries in both the formal and informal sectors. The
effects of these measures have disproportionately affected Black Africans, females, and least educated respondents in both employment sectors, but particularly those in the informal sector. The results suggest important implications for regional and national level policy development, and highlights the need for solutions geared towards addressing the pre-existing challenges and outcomes of the pandemic to reconfigure the
South African economy and labour market in inclusive ways.