The new work from home world is a big transition ... that will be painful

The next article 

explains that US

unemployment

is currently

at least 20%,

( 32 million )

based on 

the number

of people 

receiving 

state and federal 

unemployment

compensation.

The June 

employment

report claiming 

we had 11.1%

( 17.8 million )

unemployment 

was a lie, so far 

from reality

that I'm surprised 

no Democrats have 

accused the Trump

Administration of

economics fraud !

That report apparently

ignored a new federal

unemployment program

for "gig workers"

(self employed) 

not covered 

by the conventional 

state unemployment

insurance.

Unemployment 

peaked at 25%

during the 1929

Recession, as a 

comparison.

Let's consider

what industries

have been hurt

the most by the 

unemployment,

and media hyped

fears of COVID-19:

RETAIL  STORES:

Retailers have

been in trouble

for several years.

Too many square feet

of retail floor space as

online sales grow.

Of course the pandemic

made that bad trend 

much worse.

New bankruptcy

of the Ascena Group,

($3 billion liabilities)

whose remaining brands 

are Ann Taylor, LOFT, 

Lou & Grey, Lane Bryant, 

Cacique, Catherines, 

and Justice.

It had 3,500 stores 

a year ago.

They closed all 660

Dressbarns last year.

Will close 1,600

more stores this year.

Hopes to emerge 

from bankruptcy 

next year with

about 1,200 stores. 

Other 

"Pandemic Victims":

J.C. Penney 

   ($8 billion),

Neiman Marcus 

    ($5.5 billion).

J.Crew, 

Stage Stores, 

GNC, 

RTW Retailwinds 

(New York & Co.), 

Brooks Brothers, 

Sur La Table

Pier 1 Imports.

Tailored Brands

(Men’s Wearhouse, 

JoS. A. Bank, and 

other brands). 

is approaching 

bankruptcy.

The business 

at retail malls 

is nearly dead.

TRAVEL  INDUSTRY:

The travel industry

(planes, hotels, motels

rental cars, resorts 

and tourist attractions)

and related businesses

(restaurants depending 

on tourists) employ up to 

10% of the workforce in

many developed nations.

Some people have started

flying again to visit family

and friends, but the summer

travel season (and September)

have not bounced back much.

Businesses have NOT 

returned to the use of

airplanes for business 

travel.

Airlines are in huge

financial trouble.

This appears to be

a global phenomenon

with people working

from home. 

Roughly 60% of US

bank executives 

said they don’t expect 

all of their employees 

to return to the office. 

Over 40% said they plan 

to reduce their real estate 

footprint, according to 

a survey of US bank 

executives by 

Accenture Plc.

Laying off 

large numbers 

of workers 

is possible when 

the government’s

job retention 

PPP scheme ends

in September.

Goldman Sachs and 

Nomura said they 

plan to send only 10% 

of their UK workforce 

back to their City 

of London offices.

Working from home 

set in motion many 

negative impacts 

across the economy. 

Almost half 

of UK workers 

are working 

from home, 

up from 5%

just before 

the lockdown. 

Most would 

return to work 

immediately 

if they could.

Their employers 

seem to like the 

remote working 

experiment, 

which could save 

a lot of rent money, 

if continued.

The shift to 

work-from-home 

is hitting businesses 

such as cafes, bars,

restaurants, bars, 

hair salons, and 

public transportation.