Do you personally know anyone who was out of work due to COVID?

[disneysteve]

A comment was made in another thread by someone who said they don't know anyone who lost their job due to COVID. I was rather surprised by that as I personally know many people whose jobs were impacted, starting right at home with our daughter who was laid off on March 14 and just went back about 3 weeks ago.

I know people all around the country and even have a couple of friends in other countries who have been out of work due to COVID. It has impacted people everywhere and in nearly every occupation including professional jobs. I know one Emergency Room Physician's Assistant who was let go. My dentist's office was closed for a while so everyone there was out of work. I don't know if they've all been rehired yet. Our accountant laid off his entire staff. Our gym is closed so all of the trainers are unemployed. We have a number of friends who work for the Disney parks who were out. Another friend is an event planner. That business collapsed overnight. The list goes on and on.

But based on that other comment, I'm curious what your experience has been. Do you know people who have been out of work because of the pandemic?

[cypher1]

My brother was on admin leave at a state university, he worked in food service. He just started back two weeks ago. My ex was laid off as a manager at a restaurant, but recently got hired at different restaurant with better pay and benefits. Most of the people I know affected were in service industry. Although one friend in CA as marketing manager in real estate company, lost his whole team, but stayed on. Another friend as manager in IT helpdesk lost his whole team, but just now was able to re-hire two of them after 2 months.

[ua_guy]

Many staff, including those I know well, were furloughed at the organization I work for, and a lot of clinic staff, who I also know, were let go due to the decrease in patient volumes.

A couple guys I know through some car clubs also lost their jobs because of Covid, and a few are still looking for work.

Thinking of people I only knew loosely like the super nice staff in our cafeteria (now closed) and the wait staff and bar staff at my favorite bars and restaurants all lost their jobs at the onset of the pandemic. No idea if they’ve found other work, or if some were hired back... I hope they have been!

[kork13]

Actually.... no.

Mind you, many of my friends are military, so they/we aren't gonna get furloughed. But most of my non-government friends/family all simply moved to telework, or for those who kept going in to work as normal, often were working even more due to demand. My SIL works for Home Depot, and she's been working her tail off, with overtime almost daily. My brother got hired into a new job as a pilot for an air cargo outfit while most airlines were making massive layoffs (they carry alot of cargo for UPS/FedEx from major hubs into smaller rural areas). A few realtor friends (in multiple cities) have been struggling to keep pace with the huge volume of sales activity. My aunt's up-cycled clothing store has exploded through online sales. As I think through all of my friends, family, acquaintances.... I really can't think of a single person who lost their job.

[Smilinggirl]

I have a few friends who are massage therapists. They’ve only recently been able to accept clients again, and obviously there are significant disinfectant protocols between clients and during sessions. I know someone who is a govt. contractor and was suddenly out of work for months. I believe he is working again now. Most people I know were switched to working from home or are essential employees who still had to show up for work each day.

[QuarterMillionMan]

My apartment manager who held a side job at Enterprise got laid off along with another tenant who also worked at Enterprise. A high school friend who works as a slot tech in Las Vegas was furloughed but rehired upon reopening. A co-worker's sister who works at MGM Las Vegas as a F & B asst manager was furlough but rehired. The same co-workers mom permanently laid off from the culinary union as a union rep for 20 years. A high school friend in Hawaii furloughed from the Kahala Resort & hotel in Honolulu but rehired.

[bjl584]

Yes.
A friend of mine who works in the oil and gas industry was laid off about a month ago

[disneysteve]

I'm working with someone today who is normally at one of our other locations. She told us that back in late February, she switched from full time to part time and accepted an offer to manage a coffee shop at the airport. The pay was much better. Of course, before she even got to start, COVID hit and they shut down. That left her with only her part time position with us. Not only isn't she making more, she's actually only making half of what she used to. I didn't delve into what she's been doing but I suspect she's been doing her best to pick up extra shifts whenever she can to replace the lost income.

[Petunia 100]

My daughter-in-law was laid off last March due to COVID. And of course places at which I am a customer are struggling (hair salon lady, local coffee shop staff), but I don't know these folks on a personal level. Most of the people I know have been deemed essential and are still working.

ETA: Oh, and another friend was laid off for about 2 months, but then was called back to work (same job).

[ua_guy]

Also occurred to me that one of my closest friends-- he does many things-- in addition to having to pretty much let his family's crops go to waste this year, he also had to cap his oil well. His breakeven was well above market for a while and he had nowhere to store the excess. Huge losses for him. Story of a small farm family who is losing their shorts amidst the pandemic and the picture wasn't rosy before either because of the trade "deals" which are destroying small ag.

[Like2Plan]

A niece was put on furlough back in March (she is going back to work in Sep)--her job is in personnel. A sister-in-law who is a waitress. They are slowly opening back up where she is, so she is hoping she will be back to work soon. A friend who is a teacher's aid--still not sure how this is going to work out as they haven't decided what they are going to do with school in her community. A couple of new 2020 college graduates who had their job offers rescinded.

[disneysteve]

A couple of new 2020 college graduates who had their job offers rescinded.

I hadn't even thought of that. I bet that happened to a lot of new grads, offered a job that ceased to exist before they had a chance to start. I don't think I know anyone that happened to but I don't really know anyone who graduated recently.

[Singuy]

We have two new pharmacists who just finished their residency training but got their jobs rescinded. Currently they are as needed workers without benefits for the time being since those positions were put on a hiring freeze. Also I hear many people in my profession are looking for work with no luck. We also saw high amount of optometrists who had their leases pulled during the pandemic which results in 2-3x more people contacting my wife for side gigs.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Many, too many to write. I do taxes so I hear it all. All of the ones are in the restaurant or retail industry. But i haven't seen it among friends personally.

[Leo]

Restaurant/Service

• brother-in-law, chef for a country club here in LA, he always switch jobs anyway
• a friend, also a chef, in UK got laid off
• a friend who works as a crew for one of the big cruise ship
• a relative who is a flight attendant but I think it's just temporary

Tech

• A former coworker reached out to me looking for a job, he got furloughed initially and then I think it became permanent
• Another former coworker who works as a software engineer for a media company, but just reduce pay for all employees

Maybe more but that's just on top of my head, and me and the rest of people I know are in medical field or switched to remote so we are all good.