The Covid-19 pandemic will continue wrecking the global economy for months and maybe years to come, but already some opportunities are appearing in the rubble. A handful of Americans are finding work that didn't exist a year ago, like checking people for fever as they enter a building. The U.S. may also need as many as 250,000 workers to step in as contact tracers, tracking exposure to the novel coronavirus. But changes in American workplaces may also hurt, making it easier for companies to ship more U.S. jobs overseas. If working remotely becomes a permanent fixture of corporate life, employers may prefer to hire cheaper staff in other countries rather than paying U.S. wages. Disruption on campus could create another set of winners. Affluent and international students may be inclined to defer admission to private universities, taking a gap year rather than starting college during a pandemic. Bloomberg Businessweek points out that while schools will miss that tuition revenue in the 2020-21 school year, it may make more seats available for less privileged applicants. —Philip Gray Did you see this? The virus is receding in much of New York but still spreading in low-income neighborhoods and minority communities. Women are disproportionately at risk of losing jobs because of the pandemic, according to a Citigroup analysis. The global toll on GDP could be $1 trillion. The decimation of the travel industry is hitting Americans of Indian descent. Many reached the middle class by operating motels and budget hotels. Protesters in Hong Kong have supported the businesses that supported them. The percentage of S&P 500 board seats occupied by women hit 28% in April. We love charts Working parents are spending about 60 hours a week on housework and child care, almost twice the amount done before quarantines began. Women were already investing more time on the home front; thanks to the crisis, they've added more time than men to their existing load. Whither all those luxury condos? Professionals in New York real estate aren't sure what to expect from the pandemic, but everyone has a theory. Here's one: Interest in second homes will rise because New Yorkers are tired of their apartments and would rather self-isolate in the countryside. Here's another: Buyers torn between Manhattan and Brooklyn will err on the side of Manhattan so they can walk to work rather than relying on the subway or sitting in traffic. The safest theory of all: Parents will look to the suburbs. |
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