The Wall Street Journal - 21.03.2020 - 22.03.2020

A10| Saturday/Sunday, March 21 - 22, 2020 **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

ing money for rent and food,”

said Ali Tahir, of Austin, Texas,

who operates a small catering

business and works as an event

bartender. The two gigs are his

only source of income and both

are essentially shut down.

He thinks he can’t file for un-

employment benefits because,

like many low-wage and gig-

workers, he is self-employed

and therefore ineligible.

Mr. Tahir, 35, was counting

on making at least $4,000 this

month with work surrounding

South by Southwest, a weeklong

music and film festival that

drew 400,000 people last year.

This year’s event was canceled.

March is normally his busiest

month, and the losses are a

blow to his income, which was

about $24,000 last year.

His catering work often in-

volves cooking in private homes.

“No one really wants you to

come to their house and cook

right now,” he said.

His roommate is a computer

programmer who is working

from home. “For him, this is a

thing on the news ticker,” he

said. “For me, it’s really some-

thing to worry about.”

Millions of professionals have

been able to hunker down in

home offices, insulating them-

selves from the contagion risks

posed by commutes and col-

leagues. But interacting with

others is part of the job for re-

tail and food-service workers.

“So much of customer ser-

vice has to do with, not you be-

ing comfortable, but you making

them feel comfortable,” said Mr.

Schaffer, the pawnshop worker,

who said he makes around

$23,000ayear.“Youhavetobe

close to them. You have to shake

hands. You have to have this

personal-feeling relationship.”

Sick leave is a rarity among

these jobs. Of the lowest 10% of

wage earners, 69% didn’t have

sick leave last year, according to

the Labor Department. That

compares with 6% of the top

10% of wage earners lacking the

benefit. In the accommodation

and food services sector, 55% of

workers don’t have sick leave.

In the recovery after the

2007-09 recession, hospitality

jobs have grown nearly 50%

faster than the whole private

sector, Labor Department data

showed. That eventually pulled

in parts of the workforce that

were the last to benefit from the

expansion: African-Americans,

Latinos and those with lower

levels of education, who now

have near record low unemploy-

ment rates.

Wages for low earners grew

slowly at the beginning of the

expansion, but in the past year

grew at a faster rate than higher

earners, according to the At-

lanta Federal Reserve.

“There’s a last-in, first-out

problem,” Lisa Cook, an econo-

mist at Michigan State Univer-

sity, said. “The economic effects

of this virus are going to have a

substantial impact on low-wage

workers, who are disproportion-

ately women, African-Americans

and Latinos, and it’s going to

happen quickly.”

Before the crisis hit, things

were just getting easier for 41-

year-old Erin Schumacher, who

worked as a server at two Seat-

tle restaurants, making around

$45,000 a year.

She usually had two shifts a

week at Etta’s, a seafood restau-

rant, and three or four at Seri-

ous Pie, a pizza place with an

Amazon worker crowd. She was

working enough hours to qualify

for health insurance, which

kicked in last month, and began

saving a little.

Both restaurants closed their

doors for at least eight weeks.

She already is attempting to

work out payment plans for

medical bills and rent.

“I started a 401(k) and paid

off some credit cards and stu-

dent loans,” she said. “And now

it’s like, I’m on unemployment.”

She applied for a job at

Swedish Medical Center to work

as a materials handler, charged

with moving medical equipment

for $23 an hour, she said, add-

ing that is less than she cur-

rently makes and doesn’t in-

clude benefits. She was told she

starts March 30.

The travel and hotel busi-

ness, which employs millions of

low-wage workers, has already

been hit. After years of stable

employment, Dina Paredes is

bracing for uncertainty around

her paychecks. The 52-year-old

housekeeper at a Westin hotel

in downtown Los Angeles has

cleaned about 14 rooms per

shift for the past eight years. As

the hotel’s occupancy dropped

this month, she and other col-

leagues have been transitioned

to “on-call” status. In the past

week, she hasn’t worked a sin-

gle day, and she isn’t paid un-

less she gets work.

“Of course it is concerning,”

the mother of four said through

a translator for Unite Here Local

11, the union that represents the

hotel workers. “I have family. I

have bills I have to pay.”

More white-collar employees

working from home means cus-

tomers aren’t riding in taxis, or-

dering coffee or buying lunch.

And they can now take care of

their own pets during the day.

Dog-walking service NYC

Pooch suspended operations

Tuesday and has laid off its staff

of about 50 people, said co-

founder Shane McEvoy.

When work started to dwin-

dle last week, Mr. McEvoy

started giving employees the

option of being laid off, so that

they could tap unemployment

benefits. He said most employ-

ees took him up on the offer, be-

cause they will be paid more in

jobless benefits than they would

earn with a few walks a week.

Mr. McEvoy said employees

start at New York City’s $15 an

hour minimum wage and earn

commissions. In an interview, he

choked up when he said he was

unable to keep employees.

“It all comes down to what

cash you have on hand,” he said.

“Everyone would love to keep

people. The fact is, it’s not pos-

sible.” He said he tried to find

low-interest loans to keep the

business afloat but has strug-

gled to secure financing.

Tyler Dziendziel, of Wyan-

dotte, Mich., feared he would

lose about half his income when

the NBA and NHL suspended

games. One of his two jobs is

working security at Detroit’s

Little Caesars Arena. Mr.

Dziendziel, 24, began to debate

whether he should pay rent on

his mobile home or pay for re-

pairs for a vehicle he needs to

do his other job, arranging store

displays for Frito-Lay products.

But he received good news

this week when he was told

team owners would pay him and

other arena workers for sched-

uled shifts through April. “I’m

really happy I’ll be getting paid

and able to keep up with my

bills,” said Mr. Dziendziel, a

member of the United for Re-

spect worker advocacy group.

—Chip Cutter

contributed to this article.

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Che Janezich, a cook at Omega Ouzeri, has lost work since Seattle said restaurants could only offer takeout.

GRANT HINDSLEY FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Lowerwagescorrelatewithcloserpersonalinteractionsatwork,meaningpeoplewith

thosejobshaveagreaterpotentialtobeexposedtocontagiousdiseases.Onlyhealth-care

workers,whotendtobehigherwageearners,havemoreexposure.

Health-careoccupations*

Non-health-careoccupations Requiresexposuretodiseaseorinfections

atleastonceamonth

Numberofemployees

*Practitioners, technical and support

Note: Employee and wage figures as of May 2018

Source: Wall Street Journal analysis of Labor Department data

Kara Dapena/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

ARM’S LENGTH

AND CLOSER

Notnear

otherpeople

Withothers

butnotclosely

Slightly

close

Moderately

close

Very

close

HOW CLOSE PEOPLE ARE TO ONE ANOTHER AT WORK

4,000,

1,000,

50,

Medianannualwage:

$30,000to$49,

Officeclerks

First-linesupervisors

offoodpreparationand

servingworkers

Medianannualwage:

$50,000andmore

Generaland

operationsmanagers

Registered

nurses

Physical

therapists

Dental

hygienists

Medianannualwage:

$20,000to$29,

Retail

salespersons

Handlaborersand

freight,stockand

materialmovers

Combinedfoodpreparationand

servingworkers,includingfastfood

Waitersand

waitresses

Teacher

assistants

Nursing

assistants

Personal

careaides

Hairdressers,

hairstylistsand

cosmetologists

Orderlies

Cashiers

More than 90% of the an-
nounced U.S. job cuts tied to the
coronavirus were at restaurants
and other entertainment and
leisure businesses, according to
outplacement firm Challenger,
Gray & Christmas.
For many who retain their
jobs, tips and commissions have
evaporated. Working at home
isn’t an option, nor is sick pay.
“I don’t want to leave the job
because it’s my financial stabil-
ity,” said Chandler Schaffer, who
is 23 and earns $10.50 an hour
working at a pawnshop in South
Carolina. For now, he is continu-
ing to work even though he has
diabetes and is terrified of being
infected by the virus. “Right
now it’s a very big pit of uncer-
tainty with everything,” he said.
Line cook Che Janezich, 35,
has watched the crowds thin
and her hours dwindle at Omega
Ouzeri, the Greek restaurant
where she works in Seattle,
making $21 an hour, or about
$3,000 a month.
Now that the city has shut
down restaurants except for
takeout service, Ms. Janezich
said Thursday that her hours,
which went from 45 a week to
25 recently, were cut again to
about 11 a week. She has already
tapped her savings to pay rent
this month.
“I walk down the street and
see homeless people every single
day. I’ve always known I’m a pay-
check or two away from that,”
she said. “But now it seems even
more real, which is scary.”
She said the only places hir-
ing in the area now are the Am-
azon.com warehouse or grocery
stores, which she said feels like
a step backward: “It’s like that
cliché of you don’t know how
good you have it until it’s gone.”
There are more than 34 mil-
lion people in this pool of the
most vulnerable workers, or
about a quarter of the private
workforce. About half this group
were employed in services jobs
in the hospitality industry,
where occupations earn less
than the overall median pay for
all U.S. workers of $18.58. The
median wage for a restaurant
job is $11.09 an hour.
The other half come from re-
tail, personal and maintenance
service jobs—many of which
start at the minimum wage, as
low as $7.25 an hour, depending
on the state.
Despite an economic expan-
sion that brought with it a 50-
year low in unemployment,
many households remain a pay-
check away from financial
stress. Almost 40% of Ameri-
cans don’t have enough cash on
hand to cover an unexpected
$400 expense, a 2019 Federal
Reserve survey concluded.
The virus relief bill passed by
Congress this week expands un-
employment insurance and pro-
vides more money for food
stamps, aiming to provide an
initial safety net as layoffs in-
crease. The bill also requires
businesses with fewer than 500
employees provide two weeks of
paid leave in certain circum-
stances, with an additional 10
weeks of leave at two-thirds pay
for workers to care for children
when schools or day cares close.
Meanwhile, potential direct
payments to Americans, part of
a further stimulus package un-
der discussion in Congress,
could provide a cash cushion.
“Getting infected with the vi-
rus is not as much of an existen-
tial threat to my life as not hav-

ContinuedfromPageOne

Crisis Hits

Low-Wage

Workers

Before the coronavirus
pandemic, Joseph Puma’s
best day as a gig worker was
a $344 haul he notched last
year. Last Friday, he nearly
doubled that tally and fol-
lowed up with another $
over the weekend.
Mr. Puma, 38 years old,
delivers for Shipt, aTarget
Corp.-owned startup that
contracts people to buy
products at retail stores and
take them to customers’

homes. He started in Novem-

ber 2018 and gets paid per

delivery—varying rates, plus

tips.

A Yale University and

seminary grad with a part-

time job, he uses his extra

Shipt income to pay off more

than $200,000 in student

debt, and to keep up with

health-care premiums and

other bills.

The growing public-health

crisis “seemed like an excel-

lent time to participate and

attempt to gain some finan-

cial ground when it has been

so hard to keep up,” Mr. Puma

said. He said the weekend’s

pace of work exhausted him.

Shipt didn’t respond to a

request for comment, but

app research firm Apptopia

put out a blog post this week

saying that Shipt, Instacart

and other delivery services

had record daily downloads

of their apps.

The boom in demand for

delivery comes with another

downside. Confirmed cases

of the new coronavirus are

rising. The more Mr. Puma

works, the greater his risk of

exposure. For instance, a

customer Sunday told him

through the door of his home

that he had been exposed to

the virus, and then tipped

$20 via a smartphone app.

In addition to a job, Mr.

Puma sees the Shipt gig as a

public service. “I choose to

assume some of the risks in-

volved with this work at this

time because I continue to

care to help people while I

help myself.”

Helping people by deliver-

ing groceries has gotten

more complicated and

stressful in recent days. Last

Friday he endured a 50-min-

ute line at a Fairway Market

in Manhattan. Because he re-

lies on public transportation,

he walks around with bags

loaded with items like 12-

packs of soda and takes

them on the bus. Mr. Puma

often composes texts to cus-

tomers telling them an item

they want is out of stock and

suggesting replacements

whenever possible.

“Each shopping trip feels

like a sort of performance,”

Mr. Puma said. Over the past

few days many Shipt cus-

tomers have been placing

their first orders. So, he

spends a lot of time manag-

ing expectations. “Some-

times that means writing a

novel in a text.”

Recently, he sent a picture

of a long line to a customer,

and followed up with up-

dates like “1/3 of the way

past the frozen section.”

Mr. Puma delivers more

than just food. One order re-

quested bed sheets, pillow

cases, a candle and Scrabble.

Everything but the board

game was in stock.

Empty bread shelves and

bare frozen-vegetable sec-

tions pose a problem. Cus-

tomers can indicate through

an app that their whole or-

der should be canceled if one

of the items on their list

isn’t available. This can ne-

cessitate some finesse and

lots of communication.

Such was the case with a

large order that included 25

pounds of flour. Halfway

through fulfilling it, Mr. Puma

realized the store didn’t carry

the right flour. He found 10

pounds of another brand and

sent a picture to the cus-

tomer, who agreed to settle

for the alternative.

After navigating the store

comes the job of distributing

items—often including bottles

of juice and bulk goods—in

flimsy paper bags mandated

since March 1 by New York.

As an extra precaution,

Shipt urges workers to drop

items outside customers’

doors instead of carrying

them in.

Mr. Puma wants a break,

and is planning to spend

next week with his partner,

working on remote paid

projects, taxes and his

search for a full-time job. He

will also be wrestling with

the decision of whether to

continue the delivery job.

“I am hesitant to do an-

other blitz,” he said this

week, “because it seems to

be more risky.”

BYYULIYACHERNOVA

As the new
coronavirus
forces big
changes in
how we
work, The Wall Street Jour-
nal is looking at how differ-
ent people are coping with
the stresses and risks.

Gig Worker Balances Big Paydays Against Risks