Coronavirus exposes economic inequality

[goldengirlz]

www.google.com/amp/s/time.com/5795651/coronavirus-workers-economy-inequality/%3famp=true

I thought this deserved its own thread so we can keep the news thread reserved for medical/public health updates. I am seeing this so much here. As more Seattle and Bay Area firms tell their employees to WFH, tech workers are complaining about not having free food for a few weeks while the people who serve that food could go without pay.

It’s just really disheartening.

[smock]

"Around 86 percent of U.S. workers are employed in service industry jobs, up from 68 percent in 1970, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics."

This is a shocking statistics to me. From a bit of research, it looks like the BLS defines "service-providing industries" as including all financial activities, professional and business services, and education, in addition to the typical retail/food service/recreation jobs. I'm guessing a fair percentage of the broad category of workers can WFH.

But the statistic leaves out freelancers in service-related positions, who are in a similarly dire situation where if they don't work they don't get paid.

[smock]

Another quote that stood out: "The spread of the coronavirus has also highlighted the divide between workers who receive paid sick leave and vacation days, and low-wage workers who don’t get paid if they have to take time off for illness."

This is also a problem for freelancers (like me!) who don't have paid sick time.

Fortunately, Seattle and Washington both have paid sick leave laws for employees (although not for a two week quarantine!). If this spreads widely, we might see a difference between states with paid sick leave policies and those without.

[kershnic]

Mar 5, 2020 18:58:06 GMT -5 smock said:

"Around 86 percent of U.S. workers are employed in service industry jobs, up from 68 percent in 1970, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics."

This is a shocking statistics to me. From a bit of research, it looks like the BLS defines "service-providing industries" as including all financial activities, professional and business services, and education, in addition to the typical retail/food service/recreation jobs. I'm guessing a fair percentage of the broad category of workers can WFH.

But the statistic leaves out freelancers in service-related positions, who are in a similarly dire situation where if they don't work they don't get paid.

What about health care? Rarely possible to do this as WFH. Obviously there’s a large group who will be working to care for patients (at risk to themselves, and needing childcare), but there’s also tons of us who are not necessarily essential in an emergency but absolutely can’t WFH. Signed, a therapist who will not be paid if she is not working.

[goldengirlz]

Yes! And wasn’t there a study/article recently that found that a lot of these retail and healthcare jobs are held by women? (Unlike all the precious coal miner jobs we need to work so hard to protect. 🙄 )

@@@@

Or, like someone said in another thread, even a lack of childcare could force many women to quit their jobs. (And let’s not forget that childcare providers are mostly women too — a double whammy for women.) It’s making me really sad and nervous to think about.

[tacom]

Mar 5, 2020 19:35:21 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Yes! And wasn’t there a study/article recently that found that a lot of these retail and healthcare jobs are held by women? (Unlike all the precious coal miner jobs we need to work so hard to protect. 🙄 )

Or, like someone said in another thread, even a lack of childcare could force many women to quit their jobs. (And let’s not forget that childcare providers are mostly women too — a double whammy for women.) It’s making me really sad and nervous to think about.

It’s horrifying to think about. 91% of US nurses are women. If we don’t have nurses, we don’t have healthcare.

[susquehanna]

Mar 5, 2020 18:49:02 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

www.google.com/amp/s/time.com/5795651/coronavirus-workers-economy-inequality/%3famp=true

I thought this deserved its own thread so we can keep the news thread reserved for medical/public health updates. I am seeing this so much here. As more Seattle and Bay Area firms tell their employees to WFH, tech workers are complaining about not having free food for a few weeks while the people who serve that food could go without pay.

It’s just really disheartening.

I just read the article, and I didn't find the part that says that "tech workers are complaining about not having free food for a few weeks." What am I missing?

[susquehanna]

Mar 5, 2020 23:05:14 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Mar 5, 2020 22:23:25 GMT -5 susquehanna said:

I just read the article, and I didn't find the part that says that "tech workers are complaining about not having free food for a few weeks." What am I missing?

Oh — that was from my own experience. I work in tech and a bunch of companies here switched to work from home this week. Some people were acting very ... shall we say entitled.

Ugh, that’s unfortunate.

[Nonny]

I posted this in the covid news thread, but I think I can go here too.

Microsoft is going to continue to pay the hourly workers their regular pay during the March work-from-home-hiatus. This is focused on Redmond and N. California for now, but they plan is to figure something out for other parts of the world as the virus spreads and impacts other offices.



blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2020/03/05/covid-19-microsoft-hourly-workers/?fbclid=IwAR3iHQav8t_Ot8X6OiyqqHzk3x4KHdEakfZ-z7HvQCORpO9qZL9Agq7-JNM


I hope that all the other tech companies follow suit. 

[sonrisa]

I wonder what is going happen as free lance gig economy workers decide their gig is just not worth it. It's a lot easier to say "I'm not going to drive for Uber today" than to opt out of a full-time salaried position.