In the midst of a historic public health crisis, Khenyan Wilcox, a senior public health major at Syracuse University, is struggling to find a job.

Wilcox planned to enter public health administration after graduating from SU in May. Since the coronavirus outbreak struck the United States, the health industry has directed its hiring efforts toward specialists equipped to address the virus, he said, leaving him hard-pressed to find employment.

“During a public health crisis, there’s a huge emphasis on addressing whatever the crisis is,” Wilcox said. “So, most health institutions, health clinics or health departments, anything like that — they’re hiring for the crisis at hand and not for other systems or other jobs.”

Wilcox is one of thousands of SU seniors entering a job market that the coronavirus pandemic has thrown into chaos. As businesses across the county implement hiring freezes, cut down expenses and reduce staff, soon-to-be college graduates find their careers, and their futures, increasingly in doubt.

States across the county have implemented strict social distancing measures and ordered the closure of nonessential businesses to curb the spread of the virus. As a result, businesses — particularly those in the service industry — have had to reduce staff to keep their operations afloat.

The disruption to economic activity that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused bears many hallmarks of a recession, said Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, a professor of economics at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. A decrease in consumer spending has led to less demand for labor, triggering high unemployment, he said.

Industries that can’t function under social distancing guidelines will face the harshest fallout from the pandemic, Flores-Lagunes said. For students like Lindsay Eastwood, whose career depends on large crowds and human interaction, that means fewer post-graduation opportunities.

Eastwood, a hockey player and a television, radio and film graduate student, remained at SU for a fifth year to take advantage of her final season of NCAA eligibility. After Eastwood graduates with her master’s degree in May, she plans to pursue a career in professional sports, either on the ice as an athlete or off it in broadcasting.

The shutdown of professional sports has put those plans on hold, as empty stadiums and postponed seasons bring about hiring freezes and lost opportunities, Eastwood said.

“I’m kind of at a standstill right now,” Eastwood said. “I probably won’t get a job or an internship until sports come back. So, that’s kind of my biggest thing right now, just waiting it out.”

An international student from Ottawa, Canada, Eastwood hopes to move to New York City for work after graduation. But her ability to return to the U.S. is contingent upon her finding a job, she said.

Eastwood’s student visa guarantees her one year to find work in the U.S. after graduating, she said. If she stays any longer, she’ll need an employer to sponsor her.

“If I can’t find a job in New York, then I’ll come back to Canada to try to find a job here,” Eastwood said. “I’ll make the most of any situation.”

Emilia Smart-Denson, a theater management major graduating in May, is also trying to break into an entertainment industry hit hard by the pandemic.

Smart-Denson had hoped to find an apprenticeship or fellowship program at a nonprofit theater after graduating. But with nonprofit theaters across the county canceling shows and laying off large portions of their staffs, those opportunities have largely dried up, she said.

“A lot of places I applied, or was thinking about applying, have canceled their programs,” Smart-Denson said. “Right now, I’m sort of just waiting to hear back from the places I did apply, and if those don’t come through, I’ll start looking for real jobs.”

While the COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted the economy and forced many businesses to lay off staff, the long-term consequences may not be as severe as past U.S. recessions, Flores-Lagunes said.

Unlike the last U.S. recession, which destroyed much of the country’s economic resources, the COVID-19 pandemic has left most pieces of the U.S. economy intact, Flores-Lagunes said. The labor market could recover relatively quickly if businesses are able to reopen after social distancing measures are lifted, he said.

“All the economic factors that help us produce goods and services are still out there, and we could use them,” Flores-Lagunes said. “But we face kind of a situation in which, in the short run, the solution is basically not using those economic means.”

On the other hand, the recession could become more severe if a large number of businesses close during the outbreak, Flores-Lagunes said. The government could prevent such an outcome by helping businesses outlast the pandemic, either by investing in COVID-19 research and testing or by providing funds to businesses in danger of closing, Flores-Lagunes said.

Not all types of labor will become scarce during the COVID-19 pandemic, Flores-Lagunes said. Jobs that can continue to function remotely, or those that are not easily replaceable, may fare better than others, he said.

Alyson Weber’s job offer at General Mills has remained secure, she said. Weber, a supply chain management major in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, has found her skillset to be more in demand as companies scramble to fix supply chains disrupted amid the outbreak, she said.

“My job offer hasn’t been rescinded. It’s still stable in terms of that, because of the stable nature of the industry right now,” Weber said. “The only kind of uncertain thing is whether I’ll be working remotely.”

Tyler Smith, a human development and family science major in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, also managed to secure a job before the pandemic struck the U.S. She accepted a full-time teaching position in January at an elementary school in Denver.

Although her position is safe, Smith said she’s unsure what the start of her teaching career will look like.

“It’s a pretty big possibility that I will be starting my teaching career virtual,” Smith said. “Being a new teacher, it’s really important and crucial that you make those really impactful relationships with your students. I think it would be a lot more stressful for me.”

The pandemic has also made it difficult for Smith and Weber to shop for apartments because social distancing guidelines prevent them from touring the buildings in person, they said.

Both Smith and Weber said they feel fortunate to have found a job, especially since they know friends and roommates who are entering industries impacted by the outbreak.

Seniors reluctant to enter the job market during the pandemic should consider continuing their education, Flores-Lagunes said. Students who pursue higher degrees and expand their skillset during the economic downturn will be in a better position to find employment later on, he said.

“For people who are graduating a year from now, maybe even two years from now, this would be the right time to invest even more in their human capital, their education,” Flores-Lagunes said.

Schools across the county are providing incentives for undergraduate students to continue their education, Flores-Lagunes said. SU established the Forever Orange Scholarship on April 13 to cover half the tuition cost of any senior who remains at the university next fall to pursue a graduate education.

As for Wilcox, he’s hoping the pandemic will create lasting change in the health industry and will increase demand for aspiring public health administrators like himself. Those jobs, he believes, won’t come until the COVID-19 outbreak is on its downslope.

For now, he’s waiting.

“I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone,” Wilcox said. “It’s kind of a weird place right now where I don’t have a job, and more than likely the job I think I’ll have doesn’t even exist yet.”

Published on April 26, 2020 at 8:59 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu