Do you personally know people that have lost jobs in 2020? I do, and I am not sure what to tell them. As is the case all over the U.S. right now, there is hope that some of the jobs will still be there when the lockdowns end, but in other cases it looks like the jobs are gone for good. And since virtually nobody is hiring right now, finding new jobs is certainly not going to be easy, and there will be millions of others competing for the few jobs that open up. Of course there will be some that will decide that being a government “contact tracer” is better than not being able to pay the bills, and the mainstream media is aggressively promoting those jobs right now. But what most unemployed workers really want is to go back to their old jobs, but unfortunately many of them will never be able to do so.
According to a new study that was just released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a whopping 42 percent of the jobs that have been lost during this crisis are likely to have been lost permanently…
Many of the coronavirus pandemic layoffs will become permanent job losses, according to a new study with alarming implications for the future of the economy.
Forty-two percent of workers experiencing recent layoffs will suffer permanent job losses, according to a paper circulated by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Wow.
So let’s take a moment and do a little math.
Over the past 7 weeks, 33.5 million Americans have filed new claims for unemployment benefits.
42 percent of 33.5 million is just over 14 million, and that represents almost 10 percent of all the jobs in the entire economy before this pandemic began.
Of course more Americans continue to lose jobs with each passing week.
For example, last week thousands of Uber employees were abruptly terminated during a three minute Zoom call…
Thousands of Uber employees learned that they were being laid off in a three-minute Zoom call last week.
The ride-sharing company informed 3,500 people who worked in customer service and recruitment around the country that it would be their last day working for Uber on the live call.
Could you imagine being one of those employees?
There is no loyalty in corporate America today. When the time comes, they will ruthlessly cut ties with even their most hard working employees without even a moment of hesitation.
Uber’s Ruffin Chaveleau was given the task of letting these workers go, and there was no mincing of words…
Chevaleau told staff: ‘Our rides business is down by more than half. There is not enough work for many frontline customer support employees. [As a result] we are eliminating 3,500 frontline customer support roles.
‘Your role is impacted and today will be your last working day with Uber. You will remain on payroll until the date noted in your severance package.’
Do you think those jobs are coming back?
Of course not.
They are gone for good, and the company as a whole is going to have a very tough time surviving in this new economic environment.
The economic carnage that we are witnessing is truly unprecedented, and some parts of the country are being hit harder than others. I have some good friends in Hawaii, and needless to say this pandemic has caused tourism to Hawaii to absolutely implode.
As the tourist industry has collapsed, the unemployment rate in the state has gone from 3 percent to 34 percent…
Unemployment in Hawaii has skyrocketed from three percent to 34 percent as tourism vanishes from the island – and it could get worse as lockdown measures to protect against coronavirus continue.
Since March the number of people flying into Hawaii has fallen dramatically from 30,000-a-day to just 756.
Eventually some of those jobs may start coming back as the pandemic fades.
But then again, they might not.
And just about everyone agrees that the U.S. economy is going to continue to bleed jobs.
In fact, at this point even U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is admitting that the numbers “are probably going to get worse”…
The staggering U.S. unemployment rate reported by the government on Friday amid coronavirus lockdowns may get even worse, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday.
“The reported numbers are probably going to get worse before they get better,” Mnuchin told the Fox News Sunday program.
The good news is that millions of workers that have been temporarily laid off should start going back to work in the months ahead as the lockdowns are ended.
But the bad news is that there are millions of newly unemployed workers that have lost their jobs permanently and won’t be able to get new ones.
As a result, the ranks of the poor will greatly surge, and many more people will end up in the streets.
Already, it is being reported that the number of homeless tents in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District has grown by 300 percent…
The streets of San Francisco’s Tenderloin District have experienced a 300 percent increase in the number of homeless tents since the coronavirus outbreak began, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the community and a law school.
Residents, businesses and the University of California Hastings College of Law are suing to demand the city clean up drug needles and human waste which have littered the streets.
I have written about homelessness a lot over the years, and before this pandemic started there were more than half a million Americans that were homeless.
As this new economic depression drags on, that number is likely to multiply.
The economic crisis that I have been warning about is now here, and the American people are going to be looking to our politicians to “fix things”.
But as Egon von Greyerz has noted, there isn’t going to be any solution to this crisis…
This is what is so sad with the current economic crisis – there is no solution. Nobody should believe that it is the Coronavirus that has caused this catastrophe for the world. CV was the catalyst but the underlying problems have been there for a long time. The Great Financial Crisis in 2006-9 was temporarily patched up with trillions of dollars of money printing but it was never solved. The Great Financial Crisis was only a rehearsal and now the world is facing the inevitable collapse of the financial system.
As usual, he is right on target.
All of the economic dominoes are starting to tumble, and fear of this virus is going to be with us for a very long time to come.
Those that are still hoping for a “V-shaped recovery”, a “U-shaped recovery” or any sort of a major recovery at all are going to be deeply disappointed.
The beginning of the end has arrived for the U.S. economy, and we are all going to be absolutely horrified by the things that take place in the months ahead.
About the Author: I am a voice crying out for change in a society that generally seems content to stay asleep. My name is Michael Snyder and I am the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I have written four books that are available on Amazon.com including The Beginning Of The End, Get Prepared Now, and Living A Life That Really Matters. (#CommissionsEarned) By purchasing those books you help to support my work. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but due to government regulations I need those that republish my articles to include this “About the Author” section with each article. In order to comply with those government regulations, I need to tell you that the controversial opinions in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the websites where my work is republished. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. Those responding to this article by making comments are solely responsible for their viewpoints, and those viewpoints do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of Michael Snyder or the operators of the websites where my work is republished. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is a great help. During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with all many people as we possibly can.