Overview

• In the weeks since COVID-19 first hit the United States, thousands of companies across various industries have had to enact pay cuts, furlough and/or lay off employees, and/or close down for the foreseeable future.
• Over the course of a three-week period, more than 17 million people in the United States alone applied for unemployment benefits following company closures and layoffs.
• While early research was unable to identify any Fortune 500 companies which have conducted layoffs in response to COVID-19, a number of major companies and industries have come under fire, including various airlines, the tech industry, and even healthcare organizations which have had to implement pay cuts in lieu of layoffs.

Major Companies and Organizations

• At the beginning of April 2020, Tesla — a car manufacturer — furloughed all non-essential employees, and reduced essential employees' pay by at least 10 percent.
• "GE announced that it will be reducing approximately 10 percent of its aviation unit's workforce, amounting to about 2,500 employees, on March 23. It also announced a three-month furlough impacting 50 percent of its maintenance and repair employees."
• In addition to layoffs at the company, GE's CEO has announced that he will be forgoing his salary through the remainder of 2020, "while GE Aviation CEO David Joyce will give up half of his salary".
•  Among those industries most impacted by COVID-19 is travel. As a result, several airlines have had to lay off large portions of their staff, including Scandinavian Airlines, Norwegian Airlines, and Air Canada. Similarly, a number of hotels and other travel-adjacent companies have also faced layoffs, including Marriott and Pebblebrook Hotel Trust.
• Similarly, Boeing announced at the beginning of the month that they'd offered employees a "voluntary layoff program", including a pay and benefits package for any employee opting to be laid off.

Tech Industry

• In the tech industry specifically, a number of firms and organizations have had to implement layoffs in order to stay afloat as a result of COVID-19.
• Several well-known and major tech companies have had to lay off employees, including ZipRecruiter, WeWork, ClassPass, and Yelp.

Finance

•  According to Reuters, a number of major financial organizations are also facing layoffs, including many on Wall Street.
• "Wall Street bonuses will fall roughly 30 percent this year, and firms are considering layoffs to preserve profits during the coronavirus recession, according to industry insiders and bank executives."
• For some companies on Wall Street, the decrease in bonus amounts will be closer to 40 percent "as the coronavirus outbreak hit markets hard and put millions of people out of work as non-essential businesses are forced to close".
• While many firms are trying to avoid layoffs and furloughs, a number of Wall Street companies are having to cut salaries to make that happen. Alan Johnson, a compensation consultant asked about COVID-19's impact on Wall Street, noted that "Wall Street firms are likely to cut pay for almost everyone and defer more of it to save cash".
• Other companies in the industry have begun looking into firing employees with poor performance records.