A close friend of mine is at the lower end of the income range - below what would probably be classified as the bottom end of a middle class income. She has worked relatively low wage jobs all her life. About a year ago, she landed a job at a well-known non-profit institution. She had been wanting to work there for several years, and finally managed to land a position. The pay is a little better, though by the standards of most here, not stellar. However, it's enough to cover her very modest cost of living. Like me, she is lucky enough to have cheap rent in a high COL area. Not only is the pay a little better at her current job, but she really loves it. In that respect, it's a huge step up for her.
Even though still a modest earner, she has noticed a big difference in the way she is being treated by this organization during the current crisis, than the way things would have panned out with the other (for-profit) companies she worked for in the past. With everyone else she has ever worked for, she has little doubt that she would have been laid off by now. Her current employer, despite having been closed for business for about a month now, is keeping her on at full pay through the end of April. Then she will be furloughed for 2 or 3 months, when they hope to re-open, hopefully in a gradual return to normal. There are regular phone conferences with employees, to keep them updated.
Obviously no-one knows exactly how any of this will turn out, and how it will affect businesses in the long run, but it is notable how hard this organization is working to keep it's current team of employees - and to reinstate them when they are up and running again. My friend is a rather anxious person, who trends not to value herself as much as she should. It is very telling that she has been quite upbeat throughout this whole process because, for once, she feels valued by her employer. I am interpreting it as the difference between a for-profit and a non-profit organization. Their employees are not merely viewed as replaceable "units" in the mission to turn a profit. This is heartening to me. I have benefited from our economic system, as has most everyone on this board, but there is little doubt that it can be brutal to the more vulnerable, less adaptable, or just plain unlucky members of our society during downturns.
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