1 in 4 U.S. workers weighed quitting
Just 18 percent say employer is falling short
NEW YORK — The coronavirus pandemic has put millions of Americans out of work. But many of those still working are fearful, distressed and stretched thin.
A quarter of U.S. workers say they have even considered quitting their jobs as worries related to the pandemic weigh on them, according to a new poll by The Associated PressNORC Center for Public Affairs Research in collaboration with the software company SAP. A fifth say they have taken leave.
About 7 in 10 workers cited juggling their jobs and other responsibilities as a source of stress. Fear of contracting the virus also was a top concern for those working outside the home.
The good news is that employers are responding. The poll finds 57 percent of workers saying their employer is doing “about the right amount” in responding to the pandemic; 24 percent say they are “going above and beyond.” Just 18 percent say their employer is “falling short.”
That satisfaction seems largely related to physical protections from the virus, which overwhelming majorities of workers considered very important. Still, at least half also say it is very important for their employers to expand sick leave, provide flexibility for caregivers and support mental health, and workers report less satisfaction with efforts in these areas.
Lower-income workers were especially likely to have considered quitting — 39 percent of workers in households earning less than $30,000 annually versus just 23 percent in higher income households.
John Roman, a senior fellow at NORC at the University of Chicago, said those findings likely reflect fears
Air travel at Mccarran has been steadily increasing since the March shutdown of casinos and most businesses throughout Clark County.
In March, Mccarran saw 2 million travelers pass through its doors, as the facility saw normal operations until the March 17 statewide shutdown of nonessential businesses.
The passenger number fell to the lowest total in recent history in April with 152,716 passengers, a 96.4 percent drop over April 2019’s 4.4 million passengers. It didn’t get much better in May with 391,712 travelers.
Since then, air travel to Southern Nevada has been slowly rising following the June 4 reopening of some casino resorts in the county.
In August, the latest passenger count available, 1.7 million passengers passed through Mccarran.
Passenger counts at Mccarran are down 56 percent year-over-year with 15 million travelers through August, a stark contrast to the 34.2 million in the first eight months of 2019.
The hit to the travel industry comes after Mccarran saw consecutive record-breaking years. Last year marked the third straight year Mccarran hit record high annual passenger counts, as the airport saw 51.5 million passengers, beating the 2018 record of 49.7 million passengers.
Airlines received $50 billion in cash and loans from Congress in March on the condition that they
held off on layoffs at least through October. Airlines are now warning of mass layoffs while lobbying Congress and the White House for another $25 billion to pay workers for the next six months.
The point at which Congress can deliver broader coronavirus relief before the November election is slipping away. The gap between what is being sought by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Senate Republican rivals and President Donald Trump seems increasingly insurmountable.
Southwest Airlines, which has
never laid off employees in its roughly 50-year history, warned this month that it will cut pay for nonunion workers in January and that union workers must also accept less pay or face furloughs next year.
And while passenger numbers are increasing, no one knows if that trend will continue. Infections are spiking in the Midwest and stubbornly holding in place or edging higher in other parts of the country as colder weather settles in.