Jobs for Those Whose Careers Are on Hold Because of Coronavirus
Workers of temporarily closed businesses can look for employment – and income – in these fields.
By Robin Reshwan
Jobs for Workers Halted by Coronavirus
THE REACTION TO THE coronavirus, or COVID-19, has left many employees either with less or no work or nervous about the finances needed to manage through the upcoming weeks or months while our nation copes with a pandemic. If you are facing job reduction or elimination due to safety concerns related to the coronavirus, look to identify and secure a role that meets your qualifications and availability.
Here are some employment fields where you can make extra cash right now.
Delivery/Fulfillment
Amazon announced its intent to hire 100,000 new temporary driving, fulfillment and distribution professionals throughout the U.S. to support the surge in delivery demands. They even pledged to increase their average hourly wage by $2 per hour. To find out if there are roles available near you, go here, and also look at local online job boards and community announcements to get current updates on regional hiring.
While Amazon is a clear leader in delivery and fulfillment opportunities, they are not alone in their hiring needs. Businesses of all sizes are exploring or promoting delivery services as a means to stay afloat during closures in support of social distancing. Start with your local grocery stores, pet supply stores, drugstores, convenience stores and restaurants to see if they are adding to their delivery and curbside drive-up services.
In addition to drivers, they may need temporary help with unloading shipments of supplies, restocking shelves, manning busy phone lines, maintaining cleanliness of stores, technology support or recording new products and sales in their databases and billing systems.
Support for Those Who Provide Essential Services or Are Working Remotely
Health care workers and others who provide essential services, like groceries,
emergency services, pharmacy work and banking are working more hours than ever. In addition to being very busy, many may have lost their child care options as schools and day cares close. If you are healthy and able to provide child care, there are thousands of families that require in-home help.
Additionally, these employees may be required to work extra hours – so providing grocery shopping, cleaning, yard work and other at-home support would enable them to manage the increased work demands. Even people who are working their regular jobs from home likely need a hand with domestic duties. You can ask around, look online and even check with temporary care service companies like Care.com to identify opportunities.
Security Services
Many companies hire security guards to keep stores and offices safe from looting or break-ins during a shutdown. Additionally, grocery stores and hospitals may use increased security to keep things calm during times of panic or to manage crowds. You can check with local businesses directly to ask what company they use to hire contract security guards. You can also look online for companies that provide security guard services.
Health Care/Health Operations
During times of crisis, physical and mental wellness are paramount. There are obvious needs for health care professionals and others who support health care operations, but there is also demand for virtual service providers. Virtual mental wellness companies offer a range of options to support people during stressful and uncertain times. Also, there are telemedicine companies that support online health care options.
While you cannot become a doctor, nurse or therapist overnight, you may be able to provide administrative, operational or customer support temporarily for locally based companies that are experiencing a surge in demand right now.
Online Job Boards
Most online job boards can be sorted to display the roles recently posted. As an example, a search of LinkedIn's new jobs posted in the last 24 hours that are contract or temporary show close to 9,000 new roles nationally. Some titles include copywriter, seasonal product investigations, assistant/coordinator, benefits enrollments, sales and data entry. In general, these roles will likely support daily operation of essential services' (food, bank, health care, veterinary, medicine) increased demands arising out of the pandemic or remote work.
As always, when you seek out employment, it is critical to be professional, flexible and demonstrate that you are a good hire. Start by asking your network if they know of any opportunities. Next, prepare a resume or an outline of your work history and skills to facilitate the screening and hiring process. Also, secure at least two to three references who can speak to your honesty, work ethic and commitment. Finally, it is always OK to be politely persistent. Many of the decision-makers for these roles will be very busy, so diplomatically following up and responding quickly will go a long way toward securing a role.