Impact of The Pandemic on Black Workers In Southern California

By Dr. John E. Warren | Publisher

The UCLA Center for the Advancement of Racial Equity At Work has ended Black History Month with a disturbing report on the impact of the pandemic on Black workers in Southern California. Nearly 40,000 Black workers were engaged for this report and 2,000 completed the survey, sharing their work experiences, challenges, and demands for support during the COVID- 19 pandemic.

Black workers revealed a long history of anti-Black economic issues which created Black job crisis characterized by disproportionate unemployment, underemployment and systemic racism.

The undressed Black Jobs Crisis revealed: 70% of those who experienced job loss were still looking for work at the end of surveying, over a year into the pandemic; 60% of participants reported a 2020 personal income of under $50,000, which includes those who remained employed. Over 50% of the Black workers surveyed reported working in essential or frontline sectors pre pandemic. 50% of the Black workers surveyed experienced some form of work disruption (lay-offs), terminations, and or furloughs since the start of the pandemic.

About a third of Black workers reported experiencing prejudice or discrimination at work during the pandemic; of those who experienced prejudice or discrimination, 45% were laid off or terminated and 16% were furloughed. Many believed that this was related to instances of prejudice or discrimination, the report said. 71% of on-site workers were concerned about their safety due to the potential for COVID-19 exposure on the job; 33% reported being unsure of their ability to pay for food in the month after surveying, and 28% of those surveyed reported housing challenges due largely to loss of income.

Black workers were to use their collective wisdom and experience to recommend ways employers of all levels could better support them. The workers provided recommendations at the regional, state and federal level and the following are a few of them.

At the regional level, it was recommended that there be support of Black workers through the funding of community based organizations, to help them with the social safety nets already in place. A the state level, it was recommended that funds be set aside to make PPE and COVID-19 testing directly available to workers and that administrative barriers be lowered to encourage Black community based and worker organization engagement in state funding sources, and at the federal level, it was recommended that there be more legislation and targeted support for Black workers.

This should also include updating Executive Order 11246 to include standards for Black workers.