Even with businesses starting to reopen, we're getting a better picture of not just who is still out of work but how much money was lost.
About $1.3 trillion is estimated to be lost by American workers, according to the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Oxford Economics. That includes people who still have their jobs but may have been furloughed or had pay cuts.
The estimates are that only between 11 and 20% of communities will have employment return to what it used to be.
“Employers don’t have to respond to a generalized since of fear, so if you say I’m just not comfortable until there is a vaccine or I’m just not comfortable until you can give me certainty, what we're learning is they don’t have to do that and many of them won’t do that and I would just caution employees to realize that we are now for good or for bad in a buyer’s market,” said Johnny Taylor, Jr., the president and CEO of SHRM.
SHRM found only 31% of employees said they were more productive working remotely, while 69% said they were less productive or the same.
The group cautions employees about demanding remote work.
“I’ve encouraged CEOs who've called me. You just have to be true to what your culture is. It is ok to say to an employee even if you are more productive at home, I want as senior management our culture to be more of a face to face one,” said Taylor.
OSHA already requires companies to provide safe workplaces, and that includes new guidance about the coronavirus.