Copier Careers® Poll Results & Comments

Poll: How Are You Coping?

Coping With COVID

Since March we’ve all been struggling to deal with the many changes the pandemic has brought to our lives. In past polls we’ve asked how COVID was affecting your work life and what changes to you expect to see as businesses reopen. This time we just wanted to know how you’re coping. And we were very happy to hear from so many of you – we had a record-breaking 18,982 votes this month!

It should come as no surprise that most (36%) just want a return to normalcy. Another 21% and struggling but hanging in there. In a close third, 18% said they’re safe for now but they’re not fine. Another 15% are keeping it positive, saying they’re good so far. But the remaining 10% are not good and having a hard time. And we had a few  (59) votes for our jokingly oblivious answer. So that’s 72% coping as best they can, 18% closer to the edge, and 10% really struggling.

We have a ton of comments this month so we included as many as we could below to show how varying everyone’s coping experience has been.

Our July poll question (see sidebar) also invites you to clarify or update us on your employment situation so be sure to vote and comment. We’d like to compare the  industry-specific employment data we collect this month to the monthly national data if we can get a useful sample size. If you’d like to see that analysis too, please encourage your industry contacts to weigh in!

Here are the full results:

How are you doing?

  • I just want a return to normalcy (36%, 6,783 Votes)
  • Hanging in there (21%, 3,937 Votes)
  • I’m safe but I’m not fine (18%, 3,459 Votes)
  • So far so good (15%, 2,907 Votes)
  • Not good, times are hard (10%, 1,837 Votes)
  • Great! Why do you ask? (0%, 59 Votes)
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Some comments from y’all:

  • “What was once considered ‘normalcy’ is gone. Changes to our channel will now be quick. You need to be agile to survive.”
  • “I contracted COVID-19 and I’m in the hospital. When I was working and out in the field, I always wore a mask. I observed that 99% of the customers, in every customer site that I service, were not wearing masks. They haven’t yet determined where I caught the virus. I just hope that my experience is a lesson for everyone about PPE protocol and social distancing.”
  • “Seems like things are getting back to new normal. I’m back to work and making sales. Hit my quota already this month.”
  • “The new norm has not set in yet, but a lot more Webx demos, proposals, and presentations are coming. We have done some hardware demos online with Teams and Zoom – they actually have gone really well and folks have liked not sitting in traffic to go see stuff.”
  • “Being laid off at the beginning of the pandemic was a bit of a shock to me. 3 months later and the well is still dry, no hints of things getting back to normal. I pray that companies start to hiring again.”
  • “The new norm has not set in yet, but a lot more Webx demos, proposals, and presentations are coming. We have done some hardware demos online with Teams and Zoom – they actually have gone really well and folks have liked not sitting in traffic to go see stuff.”
  • “Our company received Fed SBA loan (whatever they are calling it) to keep people employed. So we are lucky to be on the full time payroll during these times. The big question is what happens 6 to 12 months from now. Specially after that time the loan states they can not fire people. I predict in the not to far future there will be a large labor cut heading our way. But only time will tell. Ask again in 6 to 12 months. During this time I have still been busy 2 to 3 calls a day.”
  • “Hope to have employment once all the furloughs are done.”
  • “Furloughed employees are expected back July 1st.  It’s the slow season with schools being shut down.  It will be a long boring Summer with no calls.”
  • “So many uncertainties. Some of my biggest customers with high volume machines are running less or not at all. I know prints create revenue and my paycheck.”
  • “Still being employed is a good thing but work has dropped to an unsustainable level.”
  • “At the time of this writing, I am on furlough, with no idea of when I’ll return.  I hope that as things gradually reopen, business will pick up and we can all get back to work.  I’ve been looking around in the meantime, but there are very few jobs where I could even have transferable skills.”
  • “Our hours are still cut. Seems like some of our guys are seeing an increase in service calls. I’m in Michigan and out governor has just released the stay at home order and almost all businesses are open with restrictions. I’m hoping that July brings more of us back to full time.”
  • “Been Furloughed since May 1, worked from home on some projects from March 18 until furloughed. Possible furlough until July 31, may return July 10, but no one is communicating much of anything. I work for a manufacturer and while I have MANY home projects to do, the lack of concern by 50% of our population is what scares me the most when I, hopefully, go back to work. Taking every precaution and minimizing exposure, what I consider to be ‘being considerate of others’ seems to be more and more rare of the public. They’re bored with it and just want it to go away, that’s what scares me. I will wear a mask and be highly cautious long after it’s no longer fashionable. I hope my cohorts in the industry are holding up okay too, be safe all.”
  • “We are in phase 2 and opening, it’s getting busy. Pent-up demand for sales and service.”
  • “While I have stayed working full time during the pandemic; going out to eat, movie theaters and maybe a cruise vacation once a year are my normal stress-relievers and all of that has been removed. Also wearing a mask to me is smothering and induces a mild panic-attack-like state after a few minutes, especially as the weather gets warmer.”
  • “We live in Arizona, we never really closed. Now the COVID numbers are through the roof. No distancing, no masks and the ERs are full. I’m scared. This is going to get bad.”
  • “Although my hours have been cut, I still feel blessed because a lot of our fellow techs in our other locations have been furloughed.”
  • “My company’s PPP money will run out at the end of June. I wouldn’t be surprised to see layoffs then. Before the protests, a slow, steady trickle of calls had been coming in from clients getting back to work. Most of the offices I’ve been to aren’t taking COVID precautions with most employees being unmasked.”
  • “My biggest issue right now is that I’m sick and tired of eating in my car because our Gov’nor thinks we can catch the ‘rona if we’re eating in a restaurant, but not if we’re shopping at Wally World. It’s tough living in Illinois and be able to see America and freedom just across the river.”
  • “Laid off.”
  • “Companies don’t care about employees. No CEOs or managers ever lose pay.”
  • “Maybe there are too many managers who have nothing to do that should finally be cut.”
  • “Lots of furlough time which has been OK so far but if this extends into August without a return to work for most offices things could get ugly.”
  • “Every day things are getting back to normal.”
  • “There’s coping and then there’s living – I can’t wait to get back to living.”
  • “As we stay in a furlough state and see workload increase we are struggling to keep up in some parts of the state of MS. Other areas are coping OK as the return has been at a slower pace.”

Missed our June poll? Participate in our current poll in the sidebar or current newsletter!