COVID-19: What Has Changed 4 Years Later
Covid-19 has impacted the workforce heavily over the past 4 years. Here is an overview of what has changed and how the job market will never be the same because of the pandemic.
The Beginning
In the United States, the first coronavirus‐related activity restrictions were issued on March 12, 2020. At the peak of the pandemic’s lockdowns in the spring of 2020, upwards of 22 million jobs were lost across the united states according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Layoffs and hiring freezes effected major companies and start ups alike, including giant corporations such as Netflix, Meta, and Amazon.
Post-Pandemic Effects
The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the workforce in ways many have not anticipated. The biggest impact the pandemic had on the workforce revolves around the norm of having a remote/hybrid work schedule.
According to a Forbes Advisor article written in late 2023 the following metrics are what makes up the current workforce.
- By 2025, 32.6 million Americans will work fully remote, that is roughly 22% of the workforce. This projection suggests a continuous, yet gradual, shift towards remote work arrangements.
- 93% of employers plan to continue conducting job interviews remotely
- 16% of companies operate fully remote
- The age group most likely to work remotely are those aged 24 to 35. Within this demographic, 39% work remotely full time and 25% do so on a hybrid schedule, totaling 54% of this demographic working in some caliber of a hybrid schedule.
- 57% of workers would look for a new job if their current company didn’t allow remote work
- 32% of hybrid workers report they would take a pay cut to work remotely full time
When it comes to unemployment, U.S. workers are currently enjoying extremely low levels of unemployment. While the overall unemployment rate spiked to 14.8 percent in April 2020, the current unemployment rate in America is at 3.9%. It took the U.S. 8.5 years for the unemployment rate to drop below 4 percent after the end of the Great Recession in 2009. After the COVID-19 recession of 2020, it took less than 2 years to accomplish the same.
Conclusion
The main takeaway from the COVID-19 pandemic is that the workforce wants a flexible hybrid/remote work schedule. As we progress through 2024 it will be interesting to see if the trend of hybrid / remote work continues to rise.
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