Will jobs return after lockdowns? Poll finds 77% of jobless expect to be rehired

As jobless claims continue to skyrocket, a new poll finds 77% of laid-off workers expect to be rehired by their ex-employers once coronavirus lockdowns end, The Washington Post reports.

“I figure they might call me at the end of this month to start again in June,” said Jose Mogna, 54, who was furloughed in March from his construction supply job, according to the publication. “But I don’t know.”

U.S. weekly jobless claims topped 3.1 million through May 2, reaching a seven-week total of 33.5 million since coronavirus hit the nation’s economy, CNBC reported.

That erases the entirety of all jobs created in the past decade, Fox News reported. Unemployment on this scale hasn’t been seen since the Great Depression.

But fewer people filed for unemployment last week than in previous weeks since the COVID-19 virus prompted cities and states to shut down, USA Today reported.

The Washington Post/Ipsos poll found that 50% of those who have lost their jobs recently have filed for unemployment. Nearly six in 10 say it’s “very likely” they’ll get their old jobs back.

Economists say that may not be realistic. A report by the Becker Friedman Institute projects that 42 percent of jobs lost in the pandemic are never coming back.

And even if some jobs return, it’s not going to be immediate.

“Even if a miracle cure falls out of the sky in July, it’s going to take demand a while to pick back up,” said Betsey Stevenson, a University of Michigan economics professor, The Washington Post reported. “There’s no way travel or retail look the same and brings everybody back.”

The Washington Post/Ipsos poll surveyed 8,086 randomly selected U.S. adults from April 27 to May 4. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

More than 3.7 million cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 264,000 deaths as of May 7, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 1.2 million confirmed cases and more than 73,000 deaths.

The World Health Organization declared coronavirus a global pandemic. In the United States, President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency.

This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 9:40 AM with the headline "Will jobs return after lockdowns? Poll finds 77% of jobless expect to be rehired."