SAN ANTONIO – Local leaders believe there could be a “shift in employment” during the COVID-19 pandemic as workers try to find work to tide them over through the economic turmoil.
“A lot of jobs are changing,” said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, “and that hopefully will not be a permanent condition.”
Many workers face uncertain futures at their jobs as the pandemic and government-ordered restrictions put pressure on their businesses - making it harder to keep people on the payroll. Meanwhile, panic buying and online ordering have helped to create a demand for more workers in other sectors, like grocery stores and delivery services.
HEB, Wal-Mart, and Amazon have all said they are looking to hire employees.
Judge Nelson Wolff also said he expected a “shift in employment" and suggested jobs in the medical field could open up.
“All we can say is we hope this thing peaks before too long - we know it’s going to get worse before it gets better - and that we begin to see that turn down," Wolff said.
Whether any new positions will provide enough “survival jobs,” which Workforce Solutions Alamo CEO Adrian Lopez described as employment opportunities that could tide over laid-off workers, remains to be seen.
“So we can answer that question definitively or whether there are enough jobs to replace those that are actually losing jobs,” Lopez said. “Part of the issue here is that we are lagging in real time data.”
Workforce Solutions Alamo has received only two layoff notices in the past two weeks, Lopez told media members on Friday. Only employers with 50 or more employees are required to file such notices, he said, but the agency is anticipating receiving more notices from large and small businesses in the future, and it would be working to track other data to provide a better picture of the impact on the local economy.
In the meantime, Workforce Solutions Alamo, which helps connect unemployed workers with resources and job opportunities, will remain open and ready to help job seekers, Lopez said.
“What I would encourage people to do is that we do have active jobs, and we do have the database with work in Texas. So we would encourage all folks to come to our centers or call us so we can figure out a plan to be able to have that transition,” Lopez said.
Fred Pleasant, who was laid off from his job as a standardized test scorer, visited Workforce Solution Alamo’s Datapoint Career Center on Friday. Pleasant said he might try to apply for some of the jobs opening up at Amazon, HEB, or Wal-Mart, even if they prove to be temporary.
“As long I’m working and have some money in my pocket, I’m happy,” he said.
You can find a Workforce Solutions Alamo Center on its website. The agency said if you are sick, they can still help you by phone or online.
COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
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