The next wave of job losses could hit white-collar workers in San Diego. NBC 7’s Claudette Stefanian reports.
Has San Diego seen the worst of job cuts? Reports suggest the country is beginning to experience its next round of layoffs.
Until now, the service industry has been the one to brace for impact with countless jobs diminishing within weeks of COVID-19’s arrival.
But jobs originally believed to be able to withstand the disease’s economic unleashing might not be so safe.
Alan Gin, an economics professor at the University of San Diego, says this next wave is headed for white-collar jobs and even if you can do your work remotely, it does necessarily spare you from job cutting.
“People thought they might have been able to work from home, but it could be that the volume of business just dries up so much that companies will decide to lay off some of their workers," he told NBC 7.
Gin says you can’t look at the job individually. You have to look at the big picture.
“For there to be work, companies need to sell products and services and so if the whole economy is grinding to a halt then, even if you can do your job at home, there might not be any business."
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Maria Higuera was a case assistant at a firm whose job disappeared within just days of transitioning to work from home. She says the work could be completed remotely but knew her job and others were on the chopping block due to COVID-19.
“We were pretty aware that things were gonna start happening, people were gonna be let go not just in our firm but others," Higuera said.
Higuera is taking the news in stride and remaining optimistic. She’s been actively looking for work but knows the job might not come so quickly.
“I have been speaking to a few recruiters and applying to different positions because I do see that there are positions available, but from what I’ve heard a lot of those positions are on hold or just hiring process overall is on hold.”
She’s also found solace in discovering others stuck in the same predicament on social media.
“I also follow a lot of professionals in different fields on LinkedIn, and I’ve been seeing this consistent post about them losing their jobs, and we’re not just talking about legal professionals,” Higuera said. “It’s also engineers and project managers so it’s definitely hitting all if not almost all areas at this point.”
As for which white-collar industries will be impacted, Gin thinks it will be financial and business services.
