During the pandemic, Covid-19 has not only affected in person activities for school, but has also had its effect on jobs as well.
Many businesses have had their share of shutdowns and closures during the pandemic, causing workers to have had months with no employment. Massachusetts has been one of the hardest hit, with some still being left with no job. There have still been some businesses that are still feeling the effects of the pandemic and haven’t had a startup yet.
“We’re not sure when we’re going to open back up,” says Andover resident David Kailton, who currently works at Boston’s Improv Asylum. “It’s been closed since everything shut down in March, and I’ve had no work. But We’ve had some virtual meetings and things are looking up for a reopening soon, ” Kailton said.
Boston has been one of the unluckiest cities, with many places still shutdown to this date. Businesses being shut down have left employees out dry, and some have even had to search for work elsewhere. But luckily for workers in other places, this has not been the case. Some workers have been able to also receive unemployment to aid them while they were out of work.
Justin Mburu, an electrical engineer and NECC student, has been able to work a few months now after being out of work due to the pandemic. “The unemployment checks were very helpful for paying things off” Mburu said. “Now with work being back, I’m able to earn my hours for engineering. We were out for a few months which set me back a bit, but now I’m back on track.”
Mburu is also juggling work with his engineering class, which the pandemic has caused the class to be fully virtual. Mburu says the virtual classes have their perks but also have some disadvantages as well.
CJ Leblanc, a current worker on the Massachusetts railroads for the company Keolis, had a similar story. Although being hired three months before, Leblanc stated that he “had to wait until Aug. 17th to start work” due to the Covid pandemic.
“ I was ecstatic to start work since I really needed the money like everyone did. But with everything that’s been going on with Covid, a lot was shut down, and I had to patiently wait to start my job” CJ stated.
Covid still has left a huge sting on some businesses and has caused some employees to still be left unemployed all of these months. Things have looked bleak for some and may not know how long the wait will be. But for others, those effects have subsided. With a few regulations, things are mostly back to normal life for them.
“ Everything since my first day has gone smoothly at work” CJ contentedly said. “Hopefully the pandemic doesn’t interfere too heavily with our jobs again.”
