Be Prepared for the Profitless Coronavirus Recovery
Past rebounds had slow job growth. This time, persistent social distancing will make business less efficient.
Someone still needs to set, serve and clear the tables.
Photographer: JOYCE NALTCHAYAN/AFPReopening the U.S. economy is going to be a slow, painful process and nothing like turning a light switch back on. Economic activity and employment is going to be down significantly for a while. If there's any good news for workers it's that the economic activity that does occur will be more labor-intensive than it was before the coronavirus dealt such a huge blow to the economy. We're used to the past couple of rebounds from recessions being jobless recoveries, but this one will be very different.
A good way to start thinking about this is to focus on businesses that have continued to operate throughout the crisis such as grocery and big-box stores. Enhanced-sanitation standards and social-distancing requirements will mean that companies have to spend more on intensive cleaning by janitorial staff than they did before, and they likely won't be able to cut workers' hours in direct proportion to reduced customer traffic.