Impacts to Employment Sectors

Besides directly impacting the health of people, COVID-19 also impacts employment sectors due to restrictions placed on households and businesses to slow the spread of the disease. These restrictions often negatively affect business operations which lead to temporary or permanent layoffs.

Job Sector Percentage Loss in Jobs

As shown in the table below, all employment sectors have seen reductions in jobs due to COVID-19 compared to a year ago, but some employment sectors have been affected much more than others. The Leisure/Hospitality employment sector (includes waiters/waitresses and fitness center workers) has experienced an almost 50 percent reduction of its work force while the Other Services (includes hair stylists and automotive technicians) and Information (includes librarians and computer programmers) sectors have also experienced major job loss (25% and 17%). The Farm sector has experienced a large percent reduction in jobs (35%) but because of the seasonal nature of its work, there may be other factors in addition to COVID-19 that are the causes for this reduction. 

Hard-hit Employment Sectors – Lower Wage Workers

Many low-income workers, those who can least afford not to work, have lost their jobs due to COVID-19. The table below shows that the Leisure/Hospitality and Other Services sectors, which have seen the largest percent reduction in jobs due to COVID-19, have mostly low-paying jobs. The Leisure/Hospitality sector has the lowest wages of all sectors (according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) and its workforce has been reduced from 23,000 to 12,000 for a loss of 11,000 jobs in San Joaquin County. The Other Services job sector (includes hairstylists and automotive technicians) also has relatively low wages compared to other sectors and its workforce has been reduced from 7,900 to 5,200 for a reduction of 2,000 jobs. Another job sector with relatively low wages is the Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector which have seen its workforce reduced by 4,900 workers.