The first U.S. layoffs from the coronavirus are here
By Abha Bhattarai, Heather Long and Rachel Siegel March 11 at 3:12 PM ET
Job losses have begun in ports, bakeries and travel agencies. Economists worry more layoffs are coming as businesses see plummeting sales. A pedestrian walks past stores in Monterey Park, Calif. Tuesday. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images) Hundreds of Americans lost jobs this week as the coronavirus outbreak has taken a toll on the U.S. economy and brought industries to a standstill, according to interviews with two dozen companies and workers. Strong job growth defined the U.S. economic expansion over the past decade. The early layoffs indicate the coronavirus is triggering a rapid turnaround in an American economy that weeks ago looked strong, with unemployment at a half-century low. At the Port of Los Angeles, 145 drivers have been laid off and others have been sent home without pay as massive ships from China stopped arriving and work dried up. At travel agencies in Atlanta and Los Angeles, several workers lost their jobs as bookings evaporated. Christie Lites, a stage-lighting company in Orlando, laid off more than 100 of its 500 workers nationwide this past week and likely will lay off 150 more, according to chief executive Huntly Christie. Meanwhile a hotel in Seattle is closing an entire department, a former employee said, and as many as 50 people lost their jobs after the South by Southwest festival in Austin got canceled. Many job losses have been concentrated in the travel, tourism, events and trucking industries. Economists fear more layoffs in the coming weeks as supply chains come to a halt and people stay home and spend less. [Dow slumps into bear-market territory] “We will definitely see an effect on jobs from the coronavirus, and it could be pretty large in leisure and hospitality,” said Julia Pollak, labor economist at ZipRecruiter. “The first thing we’ll see is a reduction in hours. We hear many reports of employers canceling staff everywhere except in health care.”
Monday in Los Angeles, Sam Creighton and about 20 colleagues were fired from the China Visa Service Center. Creighton helped Americans get travel documents to China, but business plummeted as groups and individuals canceled trips to Asia out of virus fear. The company processed around 400 visas a month; in February, that number fell to 22. The visa center did not return a request for comment. “This job was my paycheck,” said Creighton, 27, who worked at the company for about three years. “I really don’t know what to do next." [Trump administration wants hundreds of thousands of federal workers to be ready to telework full time] Baiden King lost her job at a bake shop in Omaha on Tuesday because online sales and customer traffic dried up dramatically — especially after the state’s first case of covid-19 was reported nearby. King said her manager told her when she showed up for her shift that morning she had no choice. King made $11 an hour. “If my job’s laying off people, I can only imagine other employers are as well,” said King, who is preparing to move back in with her parents. “I’m not sure anyone will be hiring.” These early coronavirus-related jobs cuts appear to have mostly affected younger, entry-level employees and gig workers. Workers receiving pink slips said they have no idea whether these layoffs will be permanent and that it is nearly impossible to look for another job right now, with many companies instituting hiring freezes. Uncertainty is high, and as people lose jobs — or fear losing jobs — they typically scale back spending even more, which has a ripple effect on local economies. [Companies are putting out hand sanitizer. But for years, many have campaigned against sick pay.] The Port of Los Angeles, the busiest port in the United States, has become a “ghost town,” four workers said. They said the port has never been this quiet, not even during the Great Recession.
Shippers Transport Express sent layoff notices at the end of February to 145 drivers who transport containers from Asia from the port to corporate warehouse hubs. The company told workers there has been a “near shutdown” of its operations at the port “for the foreseeable future.” Many factories closed in China, stunting shipments to the United States. [Chinese factories are struggling to reopen after the coronavirus] “I’ve been working the ports for 13 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Randy L. Williams, a trucker for Shippers Transport Express. “I’m glad I didn’t buy a house yet.” He said the port typically handles over 1,000 containers a night at his part of the operation, including some Walmart products, but is down to 200. He worked two days in the past two weeks. Williams has dipped into his savings, and money is tight with a son in college. But he has union benefits and applied for unemployment insurance. He also saved from years of $29-an-hour pay. Not everyone at the port has that situation. Josue Alvarez drives for another company operating at the port, XPO Logistics, but is classified as independent, meaning he gets no vacation, sick days or health insurance. He pays for his truck and all related expenses. He typically makes $2,000 a week, but since mid-February has made $300 a week, an income he cannot survive on for long. [‘This is not a bailout’: Mnuchin defends Trump plan to rescue firms affected by coronavirus] “There’s a lot of uncertainty right now. My dispatchers say it will get worse before it gets better,” said Alvarez, who is 26 and lives with his parents. His father also is a trucker at the port. They show up early every day hoping for work but in the past two weeks almost always get sent home with no pay.
