Covid-19: The layoffs are coming, but there's still some hope

The economic toll of the Coronavirus is tremendous, and this is just the beginning. Layoffs have already jumped, but Andrew Challenger, Senior VP at outplacement firm Challenger, Christmas, and Gray, says  the official numbers are even reflective of what is really happening---that a lot of smaller businesses are cutting jobs, and those losses are big and have yet to be truly tallied. Additionally, Challenger predicts the job losses that will be announced soon will be in much larger numbers. One interesting note, though…this expert says his firm is surprised they didn’t see far more layoffs already from larger employers---they believe large companies have been trying to hold on to workers as long as possible to keep our collective situation from getting far worse. There are some glimmers of hope, though. Challenger says some industries are desperate for workers right now, and that there are some things you can do to try to insulate your job from being cut. Even as we hear about the job losses from this global pandemic, there is one industry that’s surging with demand right now. Ike Brown is president of NFI Industries. It’s a global logistics firm that operates thousands of tractor trailers and millions of square feet of warehouse space and has a large presence in Texas. Brown said not only are warehouses full of things like toilet paper and paper towels that his drivers are delivering to stores right now, but he is also preparing for ships from China to start arriving again at the end of next month.