Coronavirus - Layoffs and rumblings

[Pizzabrewer]

I was laid off 2 weeks ago when my location was suddenly closed.  It wasn't coronavirus-related, the company is in bad financial straits.  The severance I was paid was quite stingy although if we had stayed open until this crisis hit there probably would have been no severance at all.

My skills are pretty specific to the industry which is very hard-hit by the current widespread shutdown of business.  I'm not sure what the future holds for me.  We have some emergency savings and in a month I'll be 59.5 years old and can withdraw retirement savings without penalty.  Certainly not the ideal situation but we won't go hungry in the foreseeable future.

[nemesis]

I'm not sure what thread or what chart is being referenced here, but we are absolutely seeing exponential growth in the number of cases, the number of deaths and the number of deaths per day.

Exponential curves are much different than a bayesian bell curve which is what a virus causes.  The exponential rate decreases over time until cases are decreasing exponentially.

We will eventually see slowing of growth and then decay, but that does not change the fact that we are currently experiencing exponential growth and need to take measures to slow it as much as possible.

Thank you for chiming in.  I was doubting myself until I studied my sources more carefully.

This is exponential growth according to the experts.  We cannot let false information and people who present themselves as credible but are spreading incorrect information detract from the core understanding of this issue.

[chemistk]

Well, my state is taking this deadly serious -

https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/spl/pennsylvania-shutdown-lifesustaining-businesses-tom-wolf-shut-down-20200319.html

All those small businesses that were still sort of open are all shut down. More notably, many, many, many manufacturing industries in the state are being ordered to cease operations that cannot be performed remotely.

The address that Gov. Wolf gave to the state was fucking eerie.

[Bloop Bloop]

relax, its not the end of the world.  This too shall pass.  People get very hyperbolic.

Of course it's going to pass. At what cost?

What if you were told ahead of time you wouldn't survive the end of this year?  Would that change it for you?

People are not getting hyperbolic enough, that is the god damn problem.

And for many many people, it is the end of the world for them, or going to be the end of the world for them.  Their loved ones will die, jobs lost forever, while we dither on our fingers and worry about the wrong things.

It may be the end of the world for many people, just like a car accident is the end of the world for the victims, but that does not mean it is the end of the world for the rest of us. Governments are worried, but that's because it's their job to worry and take conservative measures. That does not mean that the rest of us as private individuals have to take the same worries. If we believe (and for a second, bear with me and accept that the individual's belief might be rational) that our financial position is sound (many on these forums have enough assets to live for many years without income) and that we are taking measures to isolate ourselves and our families to a reasonable extent, then it is hardly the end of the world, nor could we do more to help others.

[frugalnacho]

A lot of my friends and family are getting laid off. I know people are saying the core of the economy is still intact and this is nothing like the great recession, but damn it's starting to feel like it. They are panicked and freaking out about the layoffs, and are oblivious that we are about to live through hell on Earth in just a couple of weeks and them not working is not even important right now.  I have a sneaking suspicion that unless you are a doctor or directly involved in the supply of essential goods like food or medical supplies then your ass is about to not have a job, and that includes me. 

[fattest_foot]

I'm honestly surprised how few people here are concerned about complete economic collapse, and only seem concerned about the virus.

I'm not talking about the stock market. I'm talking about shutting down the entire states economies and the ripple effects with that that cause it all to crumble. It's a situation where even 2 weeks might be too long to recover from. There are a quite a few posts just in this thread of people already laid off. Small businesses won't be able to float the cash to just keep people on payroll with no work being accomplished.

This seems obvious to me that it's unsustainable, but the people in power apparently are oblivious to how their decisions can easily destroy our economy.

[mastrr]

I work in bankruptcy and am a lot more concerned about being buried alive under all the new filings than I am about getting laid off. The last few months have been absolutely INSANE in this industry. Everyone and their brother is going bankrupt now, seriously. And it's only going to increase given the situation.

Regarding layoffs in general, we don't really do anything to prepare. We have low expenses and lots of money.

whats your phone # we'll be needing it soon

[Viking Thor]

I'm honestly surprised how few people here are concerned about complete economic collapse, and only seem concerned about the virus.

I'm not talking about the stock market. I'm talking about shutting down the entire states economies and the ripple effects with that that cause it all to crumble. It's a situation where even 2 weeks might be too long to recover from. There are a quite a few posts just in this thread of people already laid off. Small businesses won't be able to float the cash to just keep people on payroll with no work being accomplished.

This seems obvious to me that it's unsustainable, but the people in power apparently are oblivious to how their decisions can easily destroy our economy.

Spot on. We have gone from extreme under-reaction to extreme overreaction in the U.S. assuming we keep extending the shut down. We may be dealing with essentially the equivalent of the flu and in turn turning the country into economic version of Venezuela over time. When they start talking about shutting down economy for 12-18 months it's frankly lunacy based on the evidence. Here is a good summary of the issue from Stanford University researcher.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/

[Kronsey]

A lot of my friends and family are getting laid off. I know people are saying the core of the economy is still intact and this is nothing like the great recession, but damn it's starting to feel like it. They are panicked and freaking out about the layoffs, and are oblivious that we are about to live through hell on Earth in just a couple of weeks and them not working is not even important right now.  I have a sneaking suspicion that unless you are a doctor or directly involved in the supply of essential goods like food or medical supplies then your ass is about to not have a job, and that includes me.

Agree with what you said mostly, but I don't know anyone with a brain who thinks the core of the economy is going to be left intact if we keep up with these mandates and quarantines. There won't be much of anything left if this continues for another month or two. I think the great recession is going to look like a walk in the park if nothing changes...

[nemesis]

I'm honestly surprised how few people here are concerned about complete economic collapse, and only seem concerned about the virus.

I'm not talking about the stock market. I'm talking about shutting down the entire states economies and the ripple effects with that that cause it all to crumble. It's a situation where even 2 weeks might be too long to recover from. There are a quite a few posts just in this thread of people already laid off. Small businesses won't be able to float the cash to just keep people on payroll with no work being accomplished.

This seems obvious to me that it's unsustainable, but the people in power apparently are oblivious to how their decisions can easily destroy our economy.

It's hard to be worrying about economic collapse when your house is on fire.

[nemesis]

I'm honestly surprised how few people here are concerned about complete economic collapse, and only seem concerned about the virus.

I'm not talking about the stock market. I'm talking about shutting down the entire states economies and the ripple effects with that that cause it all to crumble. It's a situation where even 2 weeks might be too long to recover from. There are a quite a few posts just in this thread of people already laid off. Small businesses won't be able to float the cash to just keep people on payroll with no work being accomplished.

This seems obvious to me that it's unsustainable, but the people in power apparently are oblivious to how their decisions can easily destroy our economy.

Spot on. We have gone from extreme under-reaction to extreme overreaction in the U.S. assuming we keep extending the shut down. We may be dealing with essentially the equivalent of the flu and in turn turning the country into economic version of Venezuela over time. When they start talking about shutting down economy for 12-18 months it's frankly lunacy based on the evidence. Here is a good summary of the issue from Stanford University researcher.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/

Again with the head in the sand.  This is nothing like the flu.  https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/destroying-the-ignorance-and-myths-on-the-coronavirus/

And there is no possibility of extreme over-reaction with the situation we have right now.  People don't understand we are about to hit a brick wall at 100mph...they are still arguing about who's going to control the radio and not seeing the end of the ride suddenly ahead.

[Bloop Bloop]

"And there is no possibility of extreme over-reaction with the situation we have right now.  "

There is always a possibility of extreme over-reaction. Your post demonstrates exactly why and how it is possible.

[nemesis]

"And there is no possibility of extreme over-reaction with the situation we have right now.  "

There is always a possibility of extreme over-reaction. Your post demonstrates exactly why and how it is possible.

You think?  We haven't come close to being where China / Italy is at yet.

These are famous words that will most likely not age well.

I pray I am wrong, but I'd rather be massively over-reacting at fighting this thing and be wrong, than lackadaisical and in denial and be dead wrong, literally.

The facts so far do not seem to reflect that sentiment of those who are not taking this seriously.

These sobering stories from Italy about what they have gone through, seems to be lost on the deaf ears of many:

https://god.dailydot.com/stages-coronavirus-italy/

[scottnews]

My corporation of 12,000 furloughed about half this Friday.  The way things are going, there will be more in the coming months.

It is crazy here.   Everyone was bringing their computers home to VPN in.   Lots of full towers with dual monitors going out the door.  Managers rushing to Best Buy to purchase WiFi dongles for people who only have wireless internet at home.   The corp more than doubled its VPN capacity, and we now have 4 different ways to VPN.

[Viking Thor]

I'm honestly surprised how few people here are concerned about complete economic collapse, and only seem concerned about the virus.

I'm not talking about the stock market. I'm talking about shutting down the entire states economies and the ripple effects with that that cause it all to crumble. It's a situation where even 2 weeks might be too long to recover from. There are a quite a few posts just in this thread of people already laid off. Small businesses won't be able to float the cash to just keep people on payroll with no work being accomplished.

This seems obvious to me that it's unsustainable, but the people in power apparently are oblivious to how their decisions can easily destroy our economy.

Spot on. We have gone from extreme under-reaction to extreme overreaction in the U.S. assuming we keep extending the shut down. We may be dealing with essentially the equivalent of the flu and in turn turning the country into economic version of Venezuela over time. When they start talking about shutting down economy for 12-18 months it's frankly lunacy based on the evidence. Here is a good summary of the issue from Stanford University researcher.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/

Again with the head in the sand.  This is nothing like the flu.  https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/destroying-the-ignorance-and-myths-on-the-coronavirus/

And there is no possibility of extreme over-reaction with the situation we have right now.  People don't understand we are about to hit a brick wall at 100mph...they are still arguing about who's going to control the radio and not seeing the end of the ride suddenly ahead.

I

If you are interested in rationale and scientific thought about this i challenge you to read this article from a Stanford University researcher / epomediologist.


https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/

[Bloop Bloop]

"And there is no possibility of extreme over-reaction with the situation we have right now.  "

There is always a possibility of extreme over-reaction. Your post demonstrates exactly why and how it is possible.

You think?  We haven't come close to being where China / Italy is at yet.

These are famous words that will most likely not age well.

I pray I am wrong, but I'd rather be massively over-reacting at fighting this thing and be wrong, than lackadaisical and in denial and be dead wrong, literally.

The facts so far do not seem to reflect that sentiment of those who are not taking this seriously.

These sobering stories from Italy about what they have gone through, seems to be lost on the deaf ears of many:

https://god.dailydot.com/stages-coronavirus-italy/

China had a comparatively tiny impact and now has no new cases. It got off light.

Italy is being ravaged, sure. But why pick Italy? Why not, say, Australia, or New Zealand, or Singapore, or any of the lesser affected countries?

By focussing on the worst-case scenario (another Italy, with further exponential growth beyond that), it seems clear to me that you're taking an extremely conservative scenario.

Because what can easily happen if we all look at the 99th worst percentile instead of the 25-75th percentile is that we shut down the economy for too long, leading to an over-extended run of job losses, leading to bail-outs, leading to higher taxes for many of us (even those of us who need absolutely no bailing out due to our own financial prudence) for years or decades down the track.

[roomtempmayo]

Are you all seeing that the Department of Labor is trying to prevent states from releasing their unemployment numbers?  https://thehill.com/policy/finance/488595-labor-dept-asked-states-to-delay-releasing-increased-unemployment-numbers

Based on the 15 states that have released, it sounds like we're talking about the highest number of claims on record, by far.

[frugalnacho]

Are you all seeing that the Department of Labor is trying to prevent states from releasing their unemployment numbers?  https://thehill.com/policy/finance/488595-labor-dept-asked-states-to-delay-releasing-increased-unemployment-numbers

Based on the 15 states that have released, it sounds like we're talking about the highest number of claims on record, by far.

Based on the people I know this isn't surprising in the least.  We are about to set some new records.  USA! USA! USA!

[Hirondelle]

@Bloop Bloop what do you mean China had a comparitively tiny impact? China has 80k+ cases, of which 67k in Hubei. Hubei/Wuhan was locked down when they had only 444 registered cases. Most countries that are now showing rapid jumps in confirmed cases did not shut down at case #444. The stories we hear from Lombardy now are the same as the stories coming from Wuhan/Hubei in February. There's some heartbreaking stories of people in their 20s/30s dying because they couldn't get a hospital bed in time. The rest of China did quite well, but they stayed in a lockdown for over a month - not sure how you call that 'tiny impact'.

As of why not compare with Australia; assuming nemesis is in the USA then comparing with Australia makes no sense as the USA is way ahead of Australia's curve, both in absolute cases and per capita. Australia shows the same exponential curve of growth so far, but just seems 1-2 week behind some of Europe and the USA. 

Comparing to the succesful Asian countries like Singapore, Japan and to a lesser extent Korea would be an option, but these countries were pretty good at keeping numbers down by exactly all those things that Europe/USA isn't doing; testing lots of folks, limit travel into the country, social distancing early on, closing schools etc. Therefore, Singapore and Japan show a very different curve when looking at the increase in cases (not Korea bc they had the church outbreak that went uncontrolled). Besides that, culturally the USA is more likely to follow the Italy model (and so is the rest of Europe) with people still going out even if the government recommends them to not do so.

So yeah, my question would be, why would one expect the USA, or any of the European countries, to look more like the succesful Asian countries (not counting Australia because they're just behind on the curve and do not show any reduction in growth rate yet)?

Btw; not arguing on which measures we should take here. I also don't know what the best option is but I'd prefer it to not look like Italy. But from what I'm seeing I have no reason to believe that we (speaking from mainland Europe here) will not be the next Italy.

[Metalcat]

I work in an industry that is being directly impacted by COVID-19, and I will be pretty shocked if I am not let go in the next couple months.

I have about one year of expenses in emergency cash, before I'd have to start selling off investments (at depressed prices!)

I'm questioning whether that is enough.

Edit to add:

I think this situation highlights the major problem with the primary argument against OMY's of: "I can always return to work for a while if necessary."

Well, when shit hits the fan, it all happens at once.  Your stocks go down.  You can't sell il-liquid assets like real-estate. Everyone is in a liquidity crunch.  You try to ride it out by using the cash savings you have available.  And yes, you can't get a job, because nobody is hiring.  My employer was interviewing potential new hires just a couple weeks ago!  Now, all of those openings are closed, and big layoffs are on the horizon.  There will be millions of people searching for a new job at the same time, with no new jobs available.  This can take a LONG time to recover -- even after the virus pandemic passes.

I always like to come back to this kind of point when it's made, because it misses a lot of key issues.

If someone is debating OMY, then by definition, they already have a fuck ton of assets. In that case, going back to work at some point is not even remotely a rushed concept.

Not only that, but they have plenty of time and resources to retrain if necessary, or buy into one of the many, many, MANY remarkable opportunities that come up during recessions.

For example, in my case, everyone in my entire industry is laid off with no possibility of work. In fact, my licensing body sent out a stern email earlier this week saying that if anyone of us work, we can be reported to public health.

I have a few side hustles, but I can't really lean on those at this exact moment, because my clients are my colleagues, and since they were all abruptly closed, none of them have any cash flow.

All in all, I'm just shit out of luck for income at the moment, which is fine because I engineer my life to never urgently need my own income.

I'm good for at least a year or two, so in that time, I could invest some of my ample resources into further training to make my services even more marketable once we get back to work.

Oh wait...that's exactly what I'm doing right now! Actually, it's exactly what I had already planned to do, so even before shit hit the fan I was prepared for a year with no income, hunkered down at home studying for yet another credential.

When your timelines for needing cash are measured in years, not weeks, it's incredible how flexible and dynamic your employment options are.

A FIREd person looking for opportunities to add to their stache is a completely different reality than someone desperate for work so they can feed their kids.

My not being able to work at this moment is a very temporary situation. The demand hasn't actually disappeared, I'm just temporarily banned from meeting it.

The long-term consequences will be to the economy at large, and I've carefully curated my skills and experience to be *more* valuable during economic down times, which anyone with some time and resources can do.

[FIKris]

I live in a ski town in Colorado. Our whole town is basically laid off: The resort laid almost everyone off since it closed early, the restaurants are closed, and all the tourists are gone and our economy is like 90% tourism. Hoping this doesn't last all summer. Realizing it might.

[frugalnacho]

Just had 3 employees laid off.  Management is claiming they were voluntary layoffs, but employees are concerned that's not the whole truth.

[darknova306]

I work in a brewery in New York State. All non-essential businesses will need to shutdown Sunday night, but we're considered essential as a beverage manufacturer. We haven't had to lay anyone off just yet, but only being allowed to sell to-go beer is gonna hit us hard when we have to pay our quarterly taxes and our mortgage...

Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk

[regenaeb]

I am a self employed consultant for a small business (work from home, have for the past 14 years). We are a high end cabinetry design firm. Today we laid off an employee. This employee was coming up on her 90 day mark (do or die time in FL for employees). She was a mediocre employee. Less then 3 months ago, we desperately needed this employee. This week she is laid off. We are small and managed to survive the 2007-2008 housing bust when most design firms were going under. We are lucky in that over 75% of our clientele are high end, they are not necessarily of the 1%, but more like the 5-10 percenters on the income scale. These kinds of things don't seem to affect them as easily. We currently have many jobs that we are in the beginning stages or middle stages of cabinetry on their jobs. So those are not going away. If your new house is framed, wired, plumbed and drywall going up you are not stopping your job. At the very least you have to finish the job and then put it on the market. Also most of our jobs are new construction not remodels. Now that being said, since I am a self employed contractor for them and not an employee my hours are cut first. For now I am fine, I figure I have about until early June before I will see a significant dent in my hours. Also I am crossed trained for 2 different departments so they will float me back and forth doing work in each to keep giving me hours as they can. They will probably cut a few more people in the next month or so if business starts slowing down, but they will be CAD drawers. People we picked up in the last year when things were super busy. They will try to keep the core people around that have worked for them for years just like in 2007-2008. I was one of those people, I have worked for these people at the last business they owned back in 1999 and this new business since 2004. I did take 2008-2013 off to stay at home with my twins that were babies, which worked out fine. But once my kids were in full day kindergarten they had me back working from home again to keep things moving along.

Luckily, my husband is military and has steady employment, so even without my check, we have savings to get us through at least a year. Then we can make it by just cutting down on all the fluff in our lives, which right now is not much since we can't do anything. I am getting money back left and right from cancelled vacation, cancelled half marathons I signed up for, travel soccer for my one daughter is cancelled for the rest of the playing year. Those things just wouldn't happening in the fall if I am not working.

I hate seeing employees being laid off right now, 2 months ago if we got rid of someone because it was not working out, you don't feel bad because they can get a job the next day. Now, it may take 6 months or longer for them to find a job.

[rob in cal]

  Our serving and bussing staff have been laid off as we have shut down dining room food service. Cooks hours are being slashed as total volumn of business is down. Delivery and pickup orders have been solid so far, and I'm hopeful that's sustainable. We have many long term customers who will probably keep ordering from us, but of course many of them might be trying to cut costs as well.

[Raenia]

No layoffs yet, but we just got told to submit timecards with "actual hours worked," meaning when we run out of work that can be done remotely, we stop getting paid.  I work in a laboratory, 90% of our work can't be done remotely.  I'll be fine, we can survive on just my DH's income, and have a strong emergency fund, but I'm worried about some of my coworkers if this goes on longer than a few weeks.

[PhrugalPhan]

No effect yet for me as a public sector person, but my GF is busier than ever.  She retired with a pension, and started doing tax prep for a national chain for maybe 5 months each year.  Currently everyone is rushing to her office, figuring they may close any day, and they want to get their refunds before the IRS gets wacky.  For now she is working 12 hour days 7 days a week on commission.  Her pay at the end of the season could be crazy.  I wish she would work less (being around people constantly is a serious threat at this point), but she is determined to make it to the end for a huge payday. <shrug>

[rocketpj]

We aren't affected directly in our employent - DW's work is easily done at home and they have enough resources for 3 years of operations (she is the boss).  I have more work than I want, but in a frontline health sector that is going to be very scary in the near term.

Investment wise our RE stuff is looking a bit scary.  I think enough tenants will pay that I can cover the mortgage payments, but I know some of them are being laid off.  Here in Canada these is some talk of mortgage relief, but I'm not sure when it comes to commercial mortgages.  I'll have to wait and see.

[MayDay]

All temp/contract employees got let go today at my company. Some had been with us for 3+ years.

[mm1970]

I feel a little bit lucky, so far.  My company literally closed on our most recent round of funding a week before the SHTF.  That doesn't mean there won't be a slowdown - we can easily be affected by global trends (and our suppliers and vendors are either not working or only half working).  We don't know yet.  Personally, I got handed another project just today (on top of everything else), with no extra pay, so yay?  I don't know how that's all gonna work if I have to start homeschooling my kids...

Which moves on to husband: mostly government contracts, already funded for at least a year or two, makes more than me, and paid by the hour.  So if one of us had to take a career "hit", it ain't gonna be him.  So, we are both WFH but with the kids it is tough.

Many of my friends have already gotten laid off (service industry). I am not sure my friend who works in wine tours will survive this.  His wife works, but two incomes are a necessity here.  Our restaurants are trying to stay open with delivery and takeout only.  It's going to get really really ugly, and if this country doesn't pull together and use my considerable tax dollars to float all those people who are laid off, I'm gonna be pissed.

[Monocle Money Mouth]

I work for a software company and the only layoffs I know about so far are the cafeteria staff. The office is essentially closed. There is no food service. You can't make a cup of coffee. They got rid of the toasters and microwaves. They don't even want you to use the refrigerators if you bring your own food. Everyone else, with the exception of a few people that need to be in the office to do their jobs, is working from home for the next few weeks. I haven't heard about any other layoffs yet, but I'm sure they are coming. They'll probably hit the development staff last and that would take several months to happen.

My wife's company just did their first round of layoffs yesterday. It was mostly administrative people. My wife's company usually does more face to face work and visits client facilities. If the shutdowns, shelter in place orders, and travel bans escalate, my wife will probably get laid off too, but it will probably be several weeks to a couple of months before it gets to that point. She has some contacts in her industry and could probably get another job without too much of a gap. It just depends on how quickly things get back to normal.

We are prepared. We have no debt, not even a mortgage. We continually look for ways to reduce our spending without reducing the quality of our lives. Our emergency funds can sustain us for well over a year.  The emergency funds can last even longer if we can collect unemployment. I'm not looking forward to any loss of income, but we should be able to withstand it pretty easily.

[vand]

Clearly, the employment market has done a complete 180 in the the past couple of weeks, and even in the last few days since people have been posting I suspect the ground has been moving under their feet.

Contractors are being let go, and layoffs are happening faster than ever.

If you are a business owner you will certainly have seen the impact on activity and are no doubt considering having to make some hard decisions in the near future.

I don't see how anyone can feel secure about their job right now.

[frugalnacho]

I don't see how anyone can feel secure about their job right now.

Unless you are a Dr or a PPE manufacturer, then you are almost guaranteed to be working triple shifts for the foreseeable future.

[Michael in ABQ]

Military so I'm feeling pretty secure. Once my deployment is over my full-time job is a civilian employee for the DoD - so once again, pretty secure.

My side-hustle selling on Amazon has increased substantially in the last few days. I'm primarily selling local grocery products and I'd say my sales have doubled or tripled in the last few days. However, what was a two-month supply will probably turn into several weeks and I'm probably not going to be able to resupply anytime soon.

[charis]

I don't see how anyone can feel secure about their job right now.

Unless you are a Dr or a PPE manufacturer, then you are almost guaranteed to be working triple shifts for the foreseeable future.

Permanent government employees performing needed services from home (non-essential) and at work (essential) seem to be pretty safe.

Military so I'm feeling pretty secure. Once my deployment is over my full-time job is a civilian employee for the DoD - so once again, pretty secure.

My side-hustle selling on Amazon has increased substantially in the last few days. I'm primarily selling local grocery products and I'd say my sales have doubled or tripled in the last few days. However, what was a two-month supply will probably turn into several weeks and I'm probably not going to be able to resupply anytime soon.

Selling local groceries on Amazon sounds lucrative right now.

[vand]

I don't see how anyone can feel secure about their job right now.

Unless you are a Dr or a PPE manufacturer, then you are almost guaranteed to be working triple shifts for the foreseeable future.

Yeah, agree on that. Obviously some niche sectors are pretty recession-proof and some are counter-cyclical.

Overall though most private sector employees are going to be sweating nuts.

[Radagast]

I am pretty lucky in that my company does a lot of work for governments and we have many projects which have already been funded. Further, in the event that the Feds decide to rekindle the economy through infrastructure investment we will be at the leading edge of that, in fact my company grew from microscopic to tiny in 2010-2011 for that very reason. Really, we are a like a permanent portfolio. More than half our work comes from government, but a significant chunk from industry/commerce and gold mining.

Also my wife is a nurse at a hospital. If our area follows the track of other countries, she will make a year of pay in the next three months from overtime. And she just got assigned her first "presumed corona virus until proven otherwise" case this morning, and sent me a selfie in full protective gear. So shit just got real.

So, no financial concerns here.

[ghsebldr]

  I have a small business manufacturing greenhouses in Washington state and our phones won't stop ringing. Lots of folks wanting to   
 start their seasons planting in a greenhouse to get a jump on the weather. We are also seeing a panic from weed growers in Southern Oregon that can't get their orders in fast enough. We've made 4 delivery trips down there in the last ten days. Our new policy is come and get it here if you need it that bad. I think they will all be too high to worry about survival as long as they have their beloved weed.

 All but a couple of the local restaurant's have closed  completely with the remaining ones trying to make it on to go orders.
 We also have a couple of paper mills in our area that are just starting layoffs.

[Zikoris]

I don't see how anyone can feel secure about their job right now.

Unless you are a Dr or a PPE manufacturer, then you are almost guaranteed to be working triple shifts for the foreseeable future.

I work in bankruptcy and feel very secure in my job for the forseeable future.