I’m curious about how many businesses are truly and completely “shut down,” as opposed to altered but still operational. It’s easy to conclude that most of the economy has simply stopped when all non-essential public-facing businesses have closed their doors (e.g. restaurants, retail stores, bars) but many of us continue to work in some capacity, often remotely.
Just anecdotally most of my extended family and neighbors all seem to be working from home. Sister and her husband (both in medical fields) are working overtime, spouse is a government employee still required to go into the office (!), and of her five siblings + three spouses only one has been completely furloughed. For many of them their offices are closed to the public, but they are toiling behind the scenes doing all the jobs that can be done remotely (inventory, redesigns, remote-classroom learning, etc)
I know that there are tens-of-millions who are not working right now, but reading this thread suggests the entire economy is at a standstill, which simply isn’t true. At the same time much of this work-from-home is a stop-gap measure that can’t last forever — in many sectors there’s only so much work that can be done remotely before people need to return to cranking out wickets or whatever it is they do.
We’ll get a glimpse tomorrow when the new unemployment numbers come in how many have truly been laid off, and that’s certain to grow. I guess my point is that just because a business is technically ‘closed’ doesn’t mean no work is being done, and no profits are being generated (either immediately or for the near future).
...early morning musings...