Almost half of all jobs lost during pandemic may be gone permanently

3086

A recent poll by Associated Press shows that a large proportion of unemployed Americans think that their jobs won’t return. Only 34 percent of the polled people believe their jobs will return.

That is a shift from earlier on when most people thought their jobs would return. The unemployment scope paints a grim picture, even as researchers work to get a vaccine for the virus.

The job market has been one of the hardest hit by the virus. Since April, when the virus hit the US, unemployment numbers went through the roof as a record number lost their jobs.

The unemployment was caused hugely by the measures aimed to combat the virus. Companies and businesses closed shop to enable social distancing and stay at home for the bulk of workers.

Only a handful of companies allowed their staff to work from home, plunging those who couldn’t into an unemployment crisis. The tough times have no end in sight, especially with the end of the $600 unemployment benefits at the end of July.

In what will serve as quite unfortunate news, most of these jobs lost might not return even with the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. Most people would have thought of the crisis to be a temporary thing.

However, all signs are that only a handful of jobs might return after the pandemic. About 10 million people might have to get new jobs after the pandemic stops wreaking havoc. To compound matters even farther, some might have to switch professions altogether.

Signs point to relatively fewer companies surviving the coronavirus pandemic. That is a frightening prospect for the millions that depended on such companies before the virus struck.

Congress has been weighing an extension of unemployment benefits for the millions of unemployed Americans.

Jobs heavily reliant on demand shifts might be the hardest to return according to a study done by The University of Chicago. That is in addition to employment in the hospitality industry.

However, it is not all gloom as some companies have stepped up hiring even in the face of the pandemic. Companies such as Walmart, Lowes, Amazon, Dominos, and Papa Johns have said they have plans of hiring soon.

That has been down to stay at home consumer patterns. The patterns have been shifting from the onset in the wake of the pandemic.

One can only wait to see how the economy bounces back after this historical setback.