According to the UN officials on Thursday, global job losses from the coronavirus crisis could far exceed the estimated 25 million just a few days ago. The officials also revealed US jobless claims have also increased to record levels, clearly displaying the scale of economic disaster. In a recent statement by the International Labor Organization – a UN agency, it was estimated a week ago that the global ranks of jobless would increase between 5.3 million and 24.7 million.
According to the Harris Poll for Glassdoor, it was revealed that most of the US employees (about 60%) were confident about their efficiency while working remotely amid the global pandemic breakout. The poll that featured about 1,000 adults had about 67% of respondents saying they would support the decision for indefinite remote working by their employers in response to coronavirus breakout, while about 28% of the respondents revealed that their employers have done nothing in order to curb the spread.
In a recent development in the coronavirus preventive measures, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc – the world’s largest theater operator, announced on 25 March 2020 that it has placed its chief executive officer and all of its corporate employees on furloughs to preserve cash during the time of crisis. AMC spokesperson revealed the move has left the theater with no revenue but with the continuous substantial fixed costs.
In a recent announcement by CVS Health on 25 March 2020, it revealed in its response to coronavirus pandemic it plans to hire about 50,000 full time, part-time and temporary positions across the country. The announcement revealed job opportunities include positions like store associates, distribution center employees, customer service professionals, and home delivery drivers. The announcement also revealed that the technology-enabled hiring process would include virtual job fairs, virtual interviews, and virtual job tryouts.
According to the latest Talespin study released in March, it was revealed while soft skills training is a priority with more than a quarter of HR and L&D professionals, lack of resources and time stand in the way. The study reported about 70% of respondents have placed soft skills as their top three priorities but they also said lack of resources was the major challenge other challenge included difficulty in measuring ROI and insufficient or ineffective training tools.
ThyssenKrupp – the German elevator-to-car parts conglomerate – has announced a job cut of 3,000 jobs at its steel unit by 2026 as a part of a wage deal it struck with powerful labor union IG Metall. The announcement was made on 25 March 2020 and revealed that the job cuts would be done in a socially responsible way and there would be no forced layoff till 31 March 2026.
Organizations in their initiative to ease the stress of working from home in order to curb the coronavirus outbreak, have shared numerous programs for professionals who are working remotely. Various HR publications have published news and latest updates on the global pandemic. In addition, there are various tools available to aid businesses in order to maintain normalcy during the crisis hour.
In a recent development related to the deadly virus COVID-19, Wells Fargo & Co., joined hands with other US banks to pay out special compensation for its front-line workers amid coronavirus outbreak. The announcement was made in an internal memo seen by Reuters on 23 March 2020. The bank announced front-line workers like branch employees, call-center staff and technology specialists who have been coming to the office while others work from home due to coronavirus outbreak will receive an additional $200 per pay period with effect from 17 April 2020 up to their five paychecks.
The global aviation industry struggles to fight the deadly coronavirus outbreak, with the airlines world-over grounding their fleets, putting numerous workers on unpaid leave and seeking state bailouts to survive the current crisis. Singapore Airlines on 23 March 2020 described the pandemic as the ‘greatest challenge’ ever informed that it will cut its capacity by 96% thus grounding almost the entire fleet and also cost cuts on about 10,000 employees because of coronavirus inflicted travel curbs.
Instacart – online shopping retail – announced on 23 March 2020 its plan to recruit 300,000 more gig workers to meet the ongoing online grocery demand as the people are forced to stay indoors due to coronavirus outbreak. The retailer added with the cities on lockdown the shoppers are forced to shop and store the necessary items.
According to The International Association of IT Asset Managers, in order to curb the spread of deadly coronavirus, organizations rushed into the remote work concept without giving proper thought to online security including how to secure their most sensitive data, and secured Wi-Fi connection. The lack of thought given to secure their online data may leave the organizations vulnerable to the threat of hackers and other cyber-related crimes.
In a recent announcement by Amazon.com Inc on Saturday 21 March 2020, the retail giant said it would increase the overtime pay for its warehouse workers in the US. The move came in the wake of the fast-growing demands of online shopping from the customers who were stuck at home during the deadly coronavirus outbreak. According to the statement, the hourly workers at the company’s US warehouses would receive double pay post 40 hours for overtime. The rate has increased from 1.5times the rate from March 15 through May 9 the statement revealed.
The recent report by Infosys Knowledge Institute survey reveals CEOs are the most influential individuals in driving a workplace transformation plan, ousting the role of CHROs in any such planning. The report revealed only about three percent of CHROs were behind the influential transformation decision, while about only a handful of CHROs only 19% of them contributed to road mapping.
In the recent development, Citigroup Inc. had asked its non-essential workers across North America to keep a hold on logging into its remote access system until 1 p.m. on Thursday 19 March 2020. According to the reliable resources the bank braced for numerous employees starting their work-from-home. The move was meant to minimize the time Europe-based employees and the US-based employees were logged in and also to prevent the system from being hanged.
The retail giant Walmart announced on 19 March 2020, the organization will hire more than 150,000 daily hour workers in the US to accommodate the increasing demand of shoppers amid coronavirus pandemic. It also announced that the organization will play a special cash bonus of $300 to full-time hourly employees and $150 to part-time associates. The announcement also stated that the company will also accelerate the next scheduled quarterly bonus for employees.
According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.’s report – the global outplacement and executive and business coaching firm – the recent estimate of job cuts was at 3,634 as of March 18. The report also shared that more than nine million jobs in leisure & hospitality will be affected by restaurant and bar closures across 13 states and three cities in the US. In another report by the Wall Street Journal, the US Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin revealed that the unemployment rate could hit 20% if no action is taken.
In a recent development in the coronavirus outbreak, Tesla Inc is the latest organization that has announced a staff cut of about 75% in the wake of coronavirus lockdown. The move will be initiated at the company-owned lone US assembly plant in California after the initial resistance of an order from the local sheriff. According to the county spokesman, the company was in talks about measures to comply with a regional lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The deadly coronavirus outbreak is affecting the aviation industry globally. With Qantas being another airline that has taken the hit amidst the crisis. The airline in a recent announcement stated that the airline will stand down about two-thirds of its 30,000-strong workforce without pay and will also end international flights. The decision came in the wake of a rescue package of $715 million, unveiled by the government on 18 March 2020. The Union, enraged with the decision, demands that the rescue money for an airline should cover workers’ costs as well.
According to various media reports, US President Donald Trump signed an emergency bill to expand family and medical leave along with guaranteed paid sick leave for certain US workers. The bill was signed on Wednesday, 18 March 2020 and will also include workers who have been employed by private entities or even individuals who have the employment count of fewer than 500 employees. The bill will come into effect by 2 April 2020.
In another development related to the global spread of deadly coronavirus, the airline industry has taken a major hit fight back with reduction in its employees. The move initiated by American Airline Group Inc and Delta Air Lines Inc and reported by Reuters revealed a disturbing trend in the industry. As per these leading industries, airlines will take a longer time to bounce back, so they have to cut costs and reduce their workforce by either offering early retirement packages or unpaid leaves for 12 months with medical benefits.
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