Stopping the spread of the virus demands the non-negotiable ethical imperative to push as many people as possible to remain in their homes.
This can take two forms: work from home, if your job allows it. If the nature of the work makes telecommuting impossible, the person is very likely laid off.
Statistics in news articles around this fact have already sharpened the intensity of that change across the landscape.
But firsthand accounts serve to shade in between the lines of that data. These Redditors humanize the numbers.
greensypoop asked, "People who lost their job due to this crisis what is your story?"
A Sacrificed Messanger
"F&B manager at a large hotel. GM and HR gave me a list of employees to call and inform them that they would all be furloughed."
"It was the hardest thing I've had to do in my life. I had to stop halfway through the list just to sit in my office and cry. I had to encourage grown men and women that everything would work out and be okay when I had no idea myself if or when it would be."
"I went to work this morning, worked my normal 10 hours, then I was laid off at the end of the day."
The Non-Material Demands of a Crisis
"I haven't been laid off, but I answer for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and we are having so many calls where someone is thinking about killing themselves because they were laid off. It's absolutely awful."
"I have no answers for these people, and I wish I had the power to provide for them."
-- prettysjwtbh
Relocation is Off the Table
"My wife and I live in New Zealand and had planned a two year working Visa in Toronto. We were supposed to leave in April, so we had obviously already handed in our notices of resignation to our bosses."
"Long story short, Canada shut it's borders and my boss has already hired my replacement."
-- Paranoid427
Everything on Hold
"Construction."
"The whole construction site was laid off, and with the way things are going, the company owner thinks it'll be at least a year before they consider hiring me back."
"Started 3 months ago, and that's at least 50 other people affected, just for this site. The company had several other sites that they laid off employees too."
"I'm just lucky I'm still living with my parents, and Dad works as online IT for the general public, so he's nice and busy."
-- termiAurthur
Rotten Timing
"Yeah i just got hired last week but i think that my first workday isn't gonna happen." -- jebbaok
"I hired three people a couple weeks ago; two servers and a host. I told them that I will reach out as soon as I can offer them training hours and then shifts. I got laid off a week later." -- thisonetimeinithaca
Reality Keeps Dreams, Dreams
"I just finished my training as a flight attendant for a major European airline. It's been a dream of mine and I have been putting my love and energy into this training for the past months."
"I'm in Cancun right now and it's bitter sweet because it's absolutely beautiful here, but at the same time this was my last training flight."
"I'm now a fully trained flight attendant and yet no one knows when me and my other new colleagues will actually be getting our work contract since the airline industry is suffering a lot right now."
"I think I will cry when landing back in Frankfurt tonight, because I don't know when will be my next flight."
Too Many People on that Stage
"Classical musician here. Every orchestra had to cancel concerts for the next 8 weeks. Unsure if any of the concerts will be reschedule."
"Many orchestras are waiting to see if the "act of god" clause will be applied. If that is the case, musicians will not be payed. Most summer orchestras are still programmed but there is high chance will be shut down as well."
-- elbrigno
Even the Lay Off Process is Impacted
"Just lost it about an hour ago. I'm a restaurant manager and they called me and told me to turn in my keys by the end of the day. I'm in quarantine and can't. They are sending me a UPS box so I can send in my keys and told me to file for unemployment."
"I never expected this to happen to me. I'm in shock idk what I'm going to do."
-- f*kyokarma
Multiple Year Ramifications
"My job as a barista was shut down for safety and because nobody is coming in, anyway. And my summer job (teaching kids how to swim at a sleepaway camp) is cancelled because the camp decided not to open."
"While I'm not in danger of losing my house or starving, I am now unable to afford to continue going to college next semester."
A Necessary Collectivist Spirit
"They wanted a coworker and I to reduce our hours to half each, because they could only afford one of us and didn't wanna make a redundancy. In the end, I took the redundancy."
"I'm 21 and live at home, meals provided. My coworker is a 30 y/o homeowner with bills and an unemployed girlfriend. Him loosing half his income for me seemed wrong."
"Better me than him."
-- edmidgley
What's Best for Em
"I was a bartender."
"The bars and restaurants were shutdown. I was actually relieved because, not gonna lie, I was afraid of dealing with so many people and all the glasses. People would've just kept coming too if the state hadn't shut us down."
-- hurtsdonut_
Unnecessary, Though Understandable, Guilt
"My husband got laid off on Tuesday. He works about 3 minutes down the road from my work. He showed up at my work with tears in his eyes, apologizing to me for not doing good enough to be kept."
"He works at a car dealership as an auto technician, where they let go of four techs that day cause of decreasing business. They're letting go of more people this Saturday. My brother is a mechanic there, and is scared to lose his job too."
"They told my husband that when business picks back up, they "might" call and ask him to come work for them again."
-- Tazzybugg
When it's for the Best
"My mom works in vacation rentals doing housekeeping, she's 61, diabetic and has COPD, and lives in a state that has mandatory shutdown of all non essential businesses."
"When she was informed they'd be laying people off, but also staying open, she told them she's afraid of getting the virus and they laid her off so she could collect unemployment and continue to pay her bills while staying home safe."
Another Approach, Still Not Ideal
"I haven't lost my job, but my small software company instituted 30% paycut across the board. They say it'll be re-evaluated every month. Clients keep cancelling or postponing projects."
"So I'm good this month, but could easily lose it next month. I'm just happy they decided to cut pay instead of fire 30% of the workforce, so everyone can keep their health coverage."
"That and I'm not sure I wouldn't have been part of that 30%."
-- TummyDrums
Nothing to Advertise
"I was laid off from my 5 year graphic design job, working for a screen printing and promotional products company. About half of our business involves schools, sports, and events."
"Obviously none of that is happening currently, so our business has stagnated. They are going to try to operate with a skeleton crew for the next couple months."
"The hope is to bring everyone back eventually, but I'm not optimistic."
-- wogwai
Ghost Towns Need No Fill-Ins
"I'm a substitute teacher. If you are aware that most schools are closing if they haven't already, then that should explain why all subs are now effectively unemployed."
"It's unlikely that schools will return during this situation, so yes, thousands of people are out of work just from that alone."
"Subs don't make salary, so any employee who is hourly or paid by day now needs to scramble."
-- codenteacher
An Untimely Family Industry
"I was laid off indefinitely from 2 different hourly paying line cooking jobs on Monday(~50hrs combined/week)."
"I helped clean out one of the restaurants Wednesday. We discarded a lot of stuff. I helped clean out all of the coolers and throw away A LOT of prepped food that people didn't/couldn't take home. Employees we're encouraged to take what they wanted; produce, dairy, meat, etc."
"The place is almost completely empty, it's surreal."
"My spouse was laid off indefinitely Wednesday. She manages a restaurant and is salaried w/ benefits (~50hrs/week). She was told that management will not be paid until the place reopens."
"Our family currently has no work or income. We have a young child. These are very uncertain times."
Left Scrambling for the Basics
"Wife and I both work in the restaurant industry. Both laid off unpaid indefinitely. She's a type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetic, and we've got 2 young kids."
"We have no idea what we are going to do. Insulin and supplies were already killing us. The thought of not being able to get her insulin is horrifying."
Recessions are sweeping economic calamities that impact an entire nation--or world--of people.
Jobs are lost, career's are restarted, and possessions are taken by the very banks that crashed.
But they aren't unheard of. They happen on a relatively regular basis, every 10-20 years or so. It's not paranoid to be ready for something of such a pattern.
Reddit is apparently stocked with people that have gone through at least one recession. They reflected on the things they were glad to have done before disaster struck, and the things that would have really helped them.
u/Dre6485 asked, "People of Reddit that have experienced a recession, what advice do you have for younger workers that haven't experienced one?"
The Market is Mathematical, Friends Less So
My advice is to have a sense of community. Too many people today don't even know their neighbor's name. When times are hard, it takes a village to lean on one another for help and support.
So while it's good to save, plan, and be relatively frugal, it's also important to invest time and energy into having meaningful relationships within your surrounding community.
Pretty Much Covers It
Poor people survive by networks of other poor people.
Middle class people survive on their skillset.
Wealthy people survive on their diverse investments.
Irons in the Fire
Network. Network. Network.
In tight times resumes simply do not stand out. You need that personal recommendation to get to the interview process in most cases.
Sit Tight and Weather It
Don't be a panicky idiot and withdraw all of your investments when the market crashes. You don't lose anything until you jump ship.
Coaxed to be Broke
Hang around with people on a similar budget. You will all be on the same page and will not feel pressured to live up to the economic expectations of people not on a budget.
Know the Scene
Understand the job market. Even if you aren't looking for a job, look at job listings to see what is in demand.
If you need to, develop your skills to match these jobs. I know that's easier said than done, but at least get some skills on the radar.
Long View
Consistently live below your means and save/invest the difference.
Create a "cushion" of savings to help you through lean times.
Be willing to do odd jobs (in addition to your main employment) to pay off any debt you may have so as to mitigate periods of financial strain caused by potential unemployment.
Get Out of the Red
Pay off as much debt as you can now, particularly credit cards or anything that's high interest.
Try to avoid car loans etc and save up for one rather than getting into more debt.
Do you really need all those subscriptions? Reduce what's been direct debited every month and try save that.money or use it to pay off your credit card instead.
That's What it's There For
There is no shame in survival. If you need to rely on SNAP benefits for a bit, then do so.
Abandon your self-image if it means food on the table and a roof overhead.
One Trick Ponies Get Whipped
Diversify. Stocks, skills, banks, whatever. Never put your all your eggs in one basket is an expression that hold true in a recession.