How has COVID-19 affected your work/career?

Moderators

With most places of business physically shuttering doors and sending employees off to work from home, or closing down all together until the crisis over, many of us are feeling the effect on our jobs and careers. So, tell us what your experience has been.

Are you working from home? Have you been unemployed? Are you self-employed and wondering when your next paycheck will come? Are you in an industry which has not been affected, and you're forced to still punch the timeclock?

Share with us your tips/hopes/thoughts for getting through this crisis with your job in tact on the other side of this experience!

AliceBastable

I'm retired, so it hasn't affected me too much yet. My adult son lives with us 🙄 and he is off work from our local library system. He had an odd schedule, so now it's making me confused about what day it is since he's here all the time. If my husband's place of work (court system) ever decides to shut down, having him here all day would definitely drive me nuts after a short time. I love him, but 24/7? 😱 It's a small house!

gb2115

I'm very much still going to work. Outpatient treatment center. They won't let me telework (yet...I hope that changes because I could actually do my work from home).

I share an office the size of a large walk in closet with two other people. Social distancing is a joke. Literally right next to each other. We were issued masks but were told to use them indefinitely if possible because they are on backorder. If the nurses run out of masks we're probably going to give a lot of patients sepsis. Some procedures really require masks and there aren't enough. No known cases among our patients or staff yet but it's just a matter of time before it happens, and when it does it's going to spread like wildfire.

I'm afraid. I know most of the time it turns out ok, but that doesn't take away the fear because there's a whole lot of bad stories from this virus.

TheShadow

I quit my job because with my experience it should have been fine and now I'm shitting myself that I won't find a job for months until this is over...

Maryjv

I work in a dialysis clinic....I am considered an “essential employee” and am required to go to work. No working from home...we are all wearing thin masks (really no barrier) and all the patients are required to wear these masks. Unfortunately everyone has to keep wearing the same mask because of the shortage so not sure how “protective” these masks are

chibae

I am an RN but work in nursing facilities as a clinical reimbursment coordinator. I work on a part time basis for two different companies. One lets me work from home, the other requires I be in the facility. This week both companies declared that staff cannot work in a building if they work anywhere else. Easy choice for me. I am now working from home only.

xxyzed

I was terminated last week. It was a long time coming but I think the current economic environment didn't help

7of9

Not yet. Small office with only 5 coworkers next to our shop with only 9. We are a manufacturer - all made in US with US parts. Most travels by truck. Made us bullet proof for a bit but not now. Orders still coming in steady as we make product that is in line with security and key storage - everyone from hospitals to prisons, banks...now seeing orders for grocery, distributors etc - lock up the toilet paper!

gb2115

Hey Maryjv....yes those super thin masks and the instructions to rewear...yuck! I guess it's better than nothing?! The ESRD population is so at risk as well and it's not like the clinics can just close. Sigh.

exbrnxgrl

I am a public school teacher in CA, so... no school! Well, sort of. My district spent last week preparing a home learning program and making sure that every student had a device (iPad or Chromebooks) at home and working with Comcast to make sure everyone has internet service. It is uncharted territory and I'm sure we will have glitches but with everyone's patience and support we will do the best we can.

Last night I joined most of my class on a videoconference. I was able to touch base with them and we all got to “see“ each other. Although I know it's possible I am finding it hard to believe that we may never be together, in person, as a class this year. I miss them. I am fortunate because teachers in CA are unionized. We will, of course, be working from home and navigating remote learning . It won’t be the same but we will be paid and maintain our health insurance.

jcerroni241

I am wondering about your spouses- is anyone concerned with them working and bringing any illness home?

Mine works in hvac service field- and we are not sure if he should continue working, as me and my daughter stay home.

What are your thoughts

Salamandra

I'm also a teacher moving to remote learning. I'm worried because working without external structure and interaction is not a good recipe with my ADHD, but I'm also deeply grateful to still have my job and to have the chance to keep serving and connecting with students.

My community has some solidarity fundraising pages for people negatively impacted, and I'm contributing there since I'm lucky to still have a paycheck. I'm also supporting political advocacy for rent and unemployment relief for individuals. And hazard pay/health insurance subsidies for so many people deemed essential at low paying jobs - because as it turns out when push comes to shove, a lot of the most essential jobs for keeping our society healthy are actually very poorly paid. If we're keeping the grocery store stockers and cashiers at work risking themselves and their families, they should be getting more than bare minimum wage, imo.

DeeDeeT405

I’m a NICU nurse in a major city. Still trying to work through my chemo treatments. No social distancing yet in my unit. Hopefully won’t have any COVID cases with our babies, but setting up a room for them just in case. I have doctor say orders not to be floated to other units, but my coworkers can float to Peds ICU and Mother Baby, and Respiratory Therapists travel between units which can bring the virus to us. Super scary. My onc gave me the choice to do chemo since my Oncotype was 18. I had my first round a week ago, but now I’m seriously considering whether to continue it or not

Georgia1

My downtown office building was closed so I'm working from home until at least April 17. Dogs are happy but my DH probably not so much! My big excitement today was going out to a hardware store and finding paper towels...small victories.

I'm thinking good thoughts for all of you struggling with work + health issues at this scary time.

exbrnxgrl

Salamandra,

Can you video chat with your grade level team or other colleagues? We have been planning together via text and video chat. My district has come up with a daily schedule for all teachers and students. We’ll be using Google classroom and Seesaw for giving/turning in assignments. I realize my school district is tiny compared to NYC public schools, so it may be easier for us. BTW, I’m a proud product of NYC public schools (PS 97, JHS 135 and Christopher Columbus HS, all in the Bronx). My undergrad degree is from Queens College CUNY. Take care.

Salamandra

Hi exbrnxgrl

I love your pride for NYC public schools! I'm a transplant to NYC but a product of public schools and universities also. I'm teaching in Brooklyn now.

Yes, apparently our AP will be setting up something formal, but in the mean time there are already multiple chat groups and WhatsApp groups of varying serious/silly ratios. My colleagues are great and were supportive in person and I'm sure will keep doing so from a distance

Each principal seems to have a lot of leeway for what to set up and there hasn't been much support from the district itself ('we're building the plane as we're flying it' -chancellor's quote at a press conference) so everybody is kind of winging it alone together.

Bellevue1110

I am a manager in long term care for seniors. We're working long hours and double duty. Families have been great, residents too, but it's deeply distressing. No group gatherings for meals or activities. We are coming up with creative things for residents to connect with families, and to stay engaged, but nothing takes the place of hugs and in person smiles. Trying to take care of staff too...they are taking the risk and working in challenging times. Every staff has temp taken before they get in the front door, and lots of hand washing, etc. On call duty to cover any staff call offs. Just trying to keep the virus out of the buildings as long as possible. Just keeping up with the policy changes is exhausting. All that said, no where I'd rather be working.

Bellevue1110

Amen to what Salamandra said about low paid essential staff. The people who touch our old people and little kids often make the least. Not to mention all the ancillary staff who keep us going...God bless housekeeping, facilities and dietary staff.

DogMomRunner

I'm a social worker in a skilled nursing facility. We closed our doors to family visitors and non medical vendors/providers last Friday. Like Bellevue said, no group activities or dining and it's hard on the residents and staff. I was going through the Nurse Aide program (to hopefully go to nursing school) and my class shut down with only 3 classes to go. I am using what I learned and helping out the nursing staff but have no idea when classes will resume. I don't know if I will end up furloughed if they have to go with essential staff only

My husband is a veterinarian with an in home euthanasia and hospice practice. He has shut his business down for the foreseeable future. Too scary going into homes.

edj3

All of you working at skilled/long term/assisted/memory care facilities--thank you, from the bottom of my heart I truly thank you. My MIL is in a nursing home four hours south of us in Tulsa. As you've all said, they are on lock down, residents stay in their rooms and meals are brought to them. She's at a good facility, they take great care of her but this is hard. I do think it's just a matter of time for these facilities to have community spread and then it's going to be heartbreaking

As for me, my CEO strongly urged all who can work from home to do so. I had my entire team shift to remote work, all 16, and so far it's going OK. We had a virtual happy hour last night so people could blow off steam. I wasn't sure if anyone would attend but pretty much everyone did. I do think layoffs are in our future at my company, which will be hard. My husband and I are on my insurance.

As for my husband, he's also working remotely (we are pretty sensible here in the midwest), and his CEO has said there will be no layoffs. We'll see.

Bellevue1110

edj3, even during crazy times like this, caring for our seniors is a privilege. Glad you can work from home, I love the virtual happy hour! Need to do this with friends!

Dog mom, I hope you can finish your class somehow. Our company said upfront, no lay offs, even if census changes. It's awful to think, but they might need all of us once staff or their families start getting sick. Take good care of yourself...they're lucky to have someone with your background available for direct care.

KBL

I am a closed captioner for the deaf and hard of hearing. I work from home, thankfully. I haven't noticed a slowdown. My husband, on the other hand, is still at work. They have some people working from home, but he is not able to do his job from home, so there is a little bit of a risk there.

MelissaDallas

I'll be working from home starting Wednesday after we wrap a few things up. The courts are closed except for emergencies, and Family Law is slow. People rethink divorces when their investment and retirement funds are down so far in a low market and they are contemplating dividing stuff, and if they want to fight about their kids in a post divorce or other kids matter we can't get them a hearing for the foreseeable future.

DogMomRunner

Thanks Bellevue, I hope class resumes soon. I really enjoy my job, always something new. If CMS decides to suspend assessments then I would become non essential. With my husband shutting down his business, that would make me the sole breadwinner.

Of course there are others who are worse off than me, so I feel bad even complaining about it. Whole businesses and industries shutting down possibly to never reopen.

I hope you (and we) are able to keep the virus out of our facilities

SummerAngel

My entire office has been working from home full time for the past week. I typically work from home one or two days per week, anyway. I haven't actually worked at all since the office was sent home because I've been sick with what I'm 95% sure is the coronavirus. Finally feeling a bit better and will try to work today.

Oh, and my business is aviation technology so we've been hit hard. I received a promotion last week along with a notification that I won't receive my raise "indefinitely".

Cricketdog

Thanks to each of you on the front lines of this! I truly appreciate your sacrifice.

I started working from home after my first chemo treatment. My manager insisted I take the entire 12 weeks off but I knew I'd be bored out of my mind so we agreed to me working from home. I work in one of the "critical" (utility) industries and we've had two employees test positive for the virus so I am thrilled I've been able to stay away. The rest of the team has been working from home for just over a week now. We have a lot of conference calls and text/email frequently. Everyone has tried to keep me engaged but also respected my week off for each treatment. I'm so thankful to be getting a paycheck. I know this has negatively impacted many people across the country and world. Our industry is typically one of the last to be hit hard but we are seeing financial impacts already. It's a very uncertain time, for sure.

Anonymous

I was considering retiring at the end of the next AY year a few months ago but now that I can't teach my university students except on line, I find I miss them so much that I am not retiring anytime soon. So I gained new perspective regarding what I need in my life and what brings me joy.

Otherwise, I've been practicing my yoga sequence so that I can become a new substitute at my hot yoga studio, walking the dog, getting out with my husband and trying to keep to my regular routine as much as possible.

I have generalized anxiety disorder, and it was made worse by cancer PTSD, so managing that has been a challenge. I usually wear myself out with work and lots of hot yoga, and that hasn't been possible since now I sit at a computer instead of work in a classroom. Luckily I live in Arizona and we aren't under lockdown, and we live in the middle of a gigantic national forest so I can get out in that by walking across my street. However, we've gotten a bunch of snow over the past 2 weeks (2 feet on our mountain or more) so getting out has been more difficult which adds to anxiety. I know this will pass. I am avoiding seeing anything that spreads rumors or makes people more alarmed (like why the heck are people posting photos of empty shelves? There is food, but the hoarders are causing unnecessary panic, and seeing these photos just panics people more).

Claire in AZ

exbrnxgrl

A synopsis of my first day of @Home Learning ( My school district’s name for this brave new world). I camped out on my bed, laptop open, iPad at the ready. I sent out a reminder, including a link, to the web page my district constructed. I reminded families of what our lesson plans will look like for the first two weeks. I had, last week, sent out complete instructions for at home use of the apps students will need to access, including log in instructions as some of the apps have a different interface for home use. Families were informed last week of the process for picking up a device for students to use (iPad or Chromebooks depending on grade level) at home if needed.

I opened my laptop to a minor deluge of messages from families who either didn’t read any of my emails or read them, deleted them and now realize they need that information. To be fair, the majority of families did very well. To be equally fair I realize that this is new for all of us. When I looked at the clock it was almost noon. I realized I had not eaten, showered or dressed which could have been the source of my increasing grumpiness. After eating, showering and dressingI felt much better. I quit blaming myself and quit being irritated over families not reading my emails. It won’t be easy but tomorrow will be better!

PMML

I’m a lawyer now working from home. Worst stress is running out of work for our team - 9 people and 2 bosses. We’ve had to raise the issue of possible redundancies but so far everyone is on board for less hours while we get through

edj3

The Kansas City metro area is now under a stay at home ordinance, which crosses the state line (pretty much a mind boggler right there, that both sides cooperated and agreed--miracle!). On Sunday there was some doubt about whether my company would be deemed essential as all non-essential businesses must be closed, but we were deemed essential (taxes have to be filed and our clients really depend on getting their refunds).

My team and I have been working from home since last Monday per our CEO's strong urging. Of course as of midnight yesterday, that became mandatory. I do fear for layoffs in the future, but that's a fear I have for all industries, not just mine.

OnlyGirlof5

I've been on leave since this all started. My department proactively had everyone start working from home a few weeks ago. Now it has been mandated by our governor.

I was supposed to return next week, but who knows when since all of my follow-up visits were cancelled. I have a tentative appointment for next Friday (4/3). Since our governor has cancelled all non-essential medical visits, I may not have that visit either. So I will have to ask for a video appointment or something. I am not ready to go back full time. I get pooped out really easy. I have a desk job anyway, so I am hoping I can get clearance to return part time.