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YMMV. Someone I know got shifted to WFH 100% of them time. She then had to move out all their belongings in their office space because they were closing down half their office floors. Some people got laid off, but her, and many of her colleagues are as busy as ever.
Interesting question. One one hand, the employees working from home could save the employer a bundle when they re-negotiate their leases for office space. The more working from home, the less space they need. There might be an incentive to keep the ones who don't have the overhead of rent, Internet bandwidth, office supplies, etc.
OTOH- back when I worked for a GE sub that was building up a team in India- my boss used to joke that "If you can telecommute, your job can be outsourced". It's not quite that simple, of course- I worked with people in India for years and the time difference was a PITA and getting there and back for the occasional in-person trips was an expensive hassle even though I loved going there. If things worked as they should, someone was on a project 24/7 in one time zone or the other. If they went wrong, by the time you figured out they sent you the wrong stuff they were home and out of touch.
I think people who work from home need to work extra hard to stay visible and make sure managers know what value they're adding to the company.
This. The time difference shouldn't even matter. I'm sure people in India would work a graveyard shift if they're compensated well enough (by India standards).
Outside of the restaurant/travel/leisure & hospitality and other "usual suspect" industries, I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone I know of who remains out of work. I work in IT. Other than a couple small business owners in my family and people in these industries, I don't know many people whose living was disrupted.
Where I work is busier than ever. More projects and not enough staff. I have tons of stuff lined up well into next year. I just have a hard time seeing a lack of demand right now.
The public sector - education and local government are about to get slammed. We're talking millions when spread around the country. That's why the Democrats are wanting local government & school district bailouts as part of the stimulus.
People that are currently working from home are less likely to be laid off because their employers are still doing well. In my area, for example, many work for Amazon, Costco Corporate, Microsoft, and Tableau. Those are all business as usual. Others working from home are educators, and they are still needed to keep the kids learning, in fact they tend to work more hours than when in the classroom.
are u seriously using tech sector as an example lol?
Much of the private sector has transitioned well to WFH structures. However, they are finding out that they can do so with less people. This may be due to the fact that there is less "water cooler" loss of time that often occurs in the workplace. However, the same experience is not happening in much of the public sector. Many departments are not working anywhere near the level they did with a physical presence for a variety of reasons. People waiting for professional licenses, social services, permits, inspections, etc., have been waiting for months with little to no communication as to the status or ability to connect with an actual person by phone or email. Calls/emails to these agencies are often met with a standard recording/message saying due to Covid19 there is limited phone or email support. Huh? How is this possible 10 months into this crisis? There are several reports of a complete lack of flexibility with many employees "WFH" yet not actually working while receiving full pay. If things tighten down more over the winter it is inevitable that people will be let go.
State and local governments are certainly taking a hit from the loss of some tax revenue. In my state, they are not laying people off, but there is a hiring freeze and with many Baby Boomers retiring, those positions are not being filled. From a $1Billion surplus in early February, the state is facing a $4.5B deficit this coming year.
It's not pretty, and it's not over. Hopefully, property taxes can eventually go down to reflect the slow services being offered up by local units of government.
State and local governments are certainly taking a hit from the loss of some tax revenue. In my state, they are not laying people off, but there is a hiring freeze and with many Baby Boomers retiring, those positions are not being filled. From a $1Billion surplus in early February, the state is facing a $4.5B deficit this coming year.
It's not pretty, and it's not over. Hopefully, property taxes can eventually go down to reflect the slow services being offered up by local units of government.
There's no logical reason why property taxes would go down when the issue is a budget shortfall, unless of course you eliminate those services entirely or cut them to the bare bones (which isn't always possible).
Much of the private sector has transitioned well to WFH structures. However, they are finding out that they can do so with less people. This may be due to the fact that there is less "water cooler" loss of time that often occurs in the workplace. However, the same experience is not happening in much of the public sector. Many departments are not working anywhere near the level they did with a physical presence for a variety of reasons. People waiting for professional licenses, social services, permits, inspections, etc., have been waiting for months with little to no communication as to the status or ability to connect with an actual person by phone or email. Calls/emails to these agencies are often met with a standard recording/message saying due to Covid19 there is limited phone or email support. Huh? How is this possible 10 months into this crisis? There are several reports of a complete lack of flexibility with many employees "WFH" yet not actually working while receiving full pay. If things tighten down more over the winter it is inevitable that people will be let go.
How long do you think it might take to recover to normal unemployment levels assuming that within say 7-months vaccines have wiped out restrained COVID or confined it to flu-like spread levels?
New York has 26,697 restaurants. I'm, guessing 50% won't make it and other retailers, bars, tourism based companies etc. Tech and financial services seem to be doing o.k.
Real Estate taking a big hit.
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