It's troubling to notice that six months into the Covid-19 pandemic, major corporations are continuing to layoff employees and temporary furloughs are turning into permanent job losses.

This may be a worrisome sign that companies are concerned about the future and feel the need to reduce staff. This frightening trend will increase once the restrictions are lifted off of companies that received stimulus money from the government with the proviso to retain employees through Sept. 30. For instance, major airlines that collectively took $25 billion in “bailout” money have already announced massive layoffs will start in October.

According to Bloomberg, about 200,000 job cuts have been announced recently. The companies range the spectrum, including Ford, MGM Resorts, Coca-Cola, Salesforce and Boeing. Corporations are restructuring their business lines, closing stores, offering early retirement packages and not bringing back people who were furloughed, all in an effort to reduce costs and save money.

In a pivot toward high-net-worth clients and deploying more technology, HSBC “plans to offload business units, cut $4.5 billion in costs and lay off 15% of its global workforce.” This is in addition to tens of thousands of workers who were already laid off from the large global bank.