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Ask HN: Have you been impacted financially by Covid-19?

17 points by matmann2001 ↗ HN
I'm a firmware engineer that works for a small/medium sized company. Coming from a huge Fortune 500 company previously, I've loved everything about my new job.

But now, our CEO has announced that everyone will have their hours cut to 30/wk, and thus pay will be cut to 75%, even for salaried employees like myself.

I did not see this coming. I don't know how I should respond to it. I don't think I qualify for any of the current or proposed government assistance. I'm not even sure if my company will get any help, even though they've pledged our manufacturing facilities towards working on test kits and other treatment related equipment.

I guess I'm a little lost, so I figured I'd ask around and see if anyone else is going through a similar situation.

9 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 31.3 ms ] thread
toomuchtodo
Several states have expanded their unemployment program to not require you lose employment entirely to receive benefits. Check if your state has done so.
zenincognito
Small business owner (agency ) here. We have over 130 clients 42 of which have defaulted in their payments this month.

Here, in Australia, it is predicted that 1 in 4 business will default this year. Close to 2 million people will lose their job. If you don't work for FAANG, or orgs with high cash reserves you will feel the pinch.

I would recommend that if you like the job and it doesn't impact you financially, take the extra day and work on your side project.

If it does, you should look for alternatives with high cash reserves although chances are they will also be going through hiring freeze.

spiderfarmer
A portion of my income comes from Google Adsense. My revenue is down by 31%, while all other metrics stayed the same.

I also do consultancy for an energy company. Right now I can continu to do that work from home, but I won't be surprised if they adjust course in the coming months and end my contract.

Avalaxy
I run a small business in BI/data science, we saw every single lead we had fall through. All prospective projects are cancelled. I'm now looking for freelance jobs, but all the freelance jobs that were posted online at the start of this crisis are also wiped out by now. I'm now planning to eat up my savings.
begemotz
I'm in a different field entirely but we have also had salaries cut by a % (and obviously no raises) for the rest of our contractual year.
matmann2001
If you don't mind me asking, how will that cut affect you? Can you afford it or will you have to make sacrifices? Is there something you're doing in response, like seeking new job opportunities?
begemotz
I can absorb the cut -- but it is going to be revisited again soon and I do not know what that will bring. I am not actively looking for another job because in all honesty,I doubt I would find a more attractive one and the need to seek cuts is not unique to my employer so I have no reason to believe it would be better elsewhere.
bdcravens
Not yet, but my income trails events in the economy. I full expect some pain in the coming months. I'm working to get ahead of it, and identifying all the waste in my budget.
smabie
I've been making a lot of money shorting and betting on volatility. Rode VIX futures up to their peak and now shorting futures as the VIX is trailing down. I also did well on my gold futures today. Have tripled my brokerage account's value since Feb.