In late March, Britney Ruby Miller, co-owner
of a small chain of steakhouse restaurants,
confidently proclaimed that once the viral
outbreak had subsided, her company planned
to recall all its laid-off workers.
Now? Miller would be thrilled to restore, by
year’s end, three-quarters of the roughly 600
workers her company had to let go.
“I’m being realistic,” she said. “Bringing back 75%
of our staff would be incredible.”
Call it realism or pessimism, but more employers
are coming to a reluctant conclusion: Many of
the employees they’ve had to lay off in the face
of the pandemic might not be returning to their
old jobs anytime soon. Some large companies
won’t have enough customers to justify it. And
some small businesses won’t likely survive at all
despite aid provided by the federal government.