State officials are receiving an unprecedented number of layoff notifications.
Meaza Mengesha was enjoying a day off when it happened — a mass meeting at the Sheraton Tysons where she worked as a barista. Hotel managers explained they were laying off 171 employees. She found out when a friend sent her a text that explained the details. “The hotel is closed, and we have to give the key back for the accountant because we have some money because I’m a cashier,” she explained later.
Now she finds herself in a difficult position, one shared by many thousands of laid off employees across Virginia. “I have some savings, and I can still use that. But I’m really scared about what I’m going to do after this what I’m going to do. I’m going to have to get some financial help.”
She’s a single mother raising two children and supporting her mother back in Ethiopia. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but still I have to struggle and look for another job. I have to do a lot of things, so I’m really scared.”
She’s not alone. The Virginia Employment Commission has received official notification of layoffs of more than 7,000 employees at large-scale businesses since the beginning of last month and Virginia has seen almost half a million people filing for unemployment.
John Boardman with Unite Here Local 25 says she’s really fortunate to have a union engaged in collective bargaining on her behalf. “If this hotel were to close without the union contract, this particular woman would be out of luck. There would be no requirement for any kind of severance, no payout of unused vacation or sick leave.”
Or health insurance. Mengesha won’t lose her union-controlled health insurance until the fund is depleted, giving her some extra time during a pandemic. Boardman says many people who thought of union benefits as theoretical are now coming to appreciate what a union can do for them during an economic crisis. “We have gotten quite a number of inquiries during this crisis of people who see what places like the Sheraton Tyson have, and they want to know how they can get a union in their establishment," Boardman said.
Northern Virginia is seeing the largest number of layoff notifications by far, more than all other regions of the state combined. Frank Shafroth at George Mason University says that puts Virginia’s center of financial power at risk through the rest of the year or more. “If you’re a major employer in this area, and you’ve laid off a significant number of your employees, you’re looking ahead right now and you’re anticipating there’s likely to be another round in the fall so I think you’re going to be very wary about rehiring those people," Shafroth predicts. "We’re not talking about hiring new people. We’re talking about rehiring those you’ve laid off.”
One more thing about all those layoff notifications the Virginia Employment Commission since the beginning of March. Under normal circumstances, employers are supposed to file them 60 days in advance to give workers a chance to retrain and look for work before they lose their jobs. But the ones now being filed often have no advance notice or even come several days after the layoffs have already happened.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
