State Of Michigan Workers Layoffs End; Private Industry Continues

I found the front page of the Lansing State Journals website interesting over the weekend.  On the left side of the website there was a headline which read:

Temporary layoffs end for most state workers

On the right side of the website there was a headline which read:

Inside the Lansing-area restaurant industry's fight to survive

That pretty much sums up the difference between people who work for the state and the people who create the revenue to pay the people who work for the state.

The article stating that most laid-off state workers will come back to work stated:

Thousands of state workers will return to the job next week after a temporary lay-off issued as a side-effect of the state's efforts to slow the coronavirus' spread.

About 3,000 of Michigan's 48,000-person workforce was temporarily laid off in April. For most, the 10-day layoffs end Friday, State Budget Office spokesperson Kurt Weiss said in an email.

Layoffs will be extended for at least another week for approximately 900 Michigan Department of State employees, mostly those who work in Secretary of State branch offices that remain closed.

The article that details the struggles of the restaurant industry in Lansing stated:

COVID-19 has brought the Lansing-area’s restaurant community to its knees. Dining rooms have been closed since March 16 and will remain so through at least May 28, per the order of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are the new normal for everyone who’s open, including places that never imagined they’d serve food in plastic foam boxes.

Some restaurants are gone already and aren’t coming back — Mijo’s Diner, for example. Some aren’t certain they’ll get through the next month.

The article about the restaurants stated that since the Governor has closed all restaurants and bars in Michigan sales are down 75% to 80% and restaurants that were making sales of $35,000 a week are now down to $4,000 a week. 

You should ask yourself why almost all state employees are immune to the economic hardships brought by the Governor and the private industry that pays for all state employees are not.

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