The economy of the United States has remained steady over the past year. However, the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease has seen severe repercussions for the American Job Market. One of the industries severely hit by the outbreak is the oil industry.
Oil and natural gas producers have taken a hit over the last year due to low commodity prices. They will have to slash investments in exploration and production. The other effects of the Coronavirus outbreak can be seen quite clearly in the following.
- The Price of Texas Intermediate Crude fell below $50, a 20 percent decline as compared to the previous month
- Chinese oil demand from America is on a low by 20 percent due to dwindling air travel after the outbreak
- According to the New York Times, 14,000 to 750,000 employees lost their jobs in the United States last year because oil companies have tightened their budgets
- With the outbreak of the virus, more layoffs will be expected in the oil and natural gas industry
With fewer Chinese tourists entering the U.S, the tourism and hospitality sector is sure to take a blow. This, in turn, will reduce hiring. Auto industries will take a big hit as a lot of parts of vehicles are imported from China and assembled in the U.S. This will reduce production and have a heavy impact on the industry.
Speaking to the media, Razat Gaurav, the chief executive of LLamsoft, a supply chain company in Ann Arbor, said: “ If the current Coronavirus outbreak continues, it will ultimately affect auto assembly plants in the U.S and even Mexico.” This is worrisome for all the employees of assembly plants across America, as it may affect their jobs. Despite all the gloom, the U.S Commerce Secretary has a different view. Wilbury Ross, during a tv show, opined, “The virus will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America.” These comments are surprising as it looks difficult for the U.S job market to accelerate further in such times of gloom.
How Global Epidemics Affects The Economy
Many research papers by experts show that an infectious disease can have a sizable impact on the economy in the short and long term. Governments of robust economies in the world should try to stop such epidemics from spreading fast.
If epidemics like the coronavirus disease spread, they not only take lives but disrupt economies. What’s interesting to note is that with development standards increasing, the vulnerability to epidemics should decrease on the whole. Instead, what’s happening is that the highly interconnected world is increasing the occurrence and spread of epidemics. It is worrisome how the coronavirus is slowly turning into a pandemic and disrupting life on a global scale.
How an Epidemic Can Trigger Work-From-Home Opportunities
With the outbreak of the coronavirus, a new interesting trend is on the rise. A lot of tech companies in China, such as Microsoft, Tencent, and Alibaba have told their employees to work-from-home, till things stabilize in the country. Macao, Hongkong, and Singapore have also followed suit and ordered their employees to work-from-home.
Many technology companies have tried to inculcate the work-from-home option but have never really succeeded in the past. With the virus spreading, companies have had no choice but to let their employees work-from-home. It remains to be seen whether work-from-home prospects will be widely available in the future. With the workforce evolving, companies globally should encourage more work-from-home opportunities.
Concluding Thoughts
An epidemic such as the coronavirus disease can have a sizeable effect on the economy. Lives can be lost, economies can crumble, jobs are lost, and all-in-all, nations suffer. The world needs to be better prepared to deal with such problems.
Looking at the number of deaths that have taken place in China, Coronavirus has to be taken seriously. So that such an epidemic does not come back to haunt the world once again.
Comments are closed.