Nation’s 12 largest employers laid off thousands during the pandemic

The nation’s largest employers collectively laid off more than 100,000 workers during the pandemic, according to a report released Tuesday by a House subcommittee.

Hourly workers were hit particularly hard. Not only were they more likely to get fired in 2019, 2020 and 2021 than salaried employees, but they were also more likely to quit and less likely to be promoted, congressional investigators found. The phenomenon disproportionately affected women, workers of color and older workers.

The findings are part of a staff report from the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, which detailed staffing inequities at 12 large corporations: AT&T, Berkshire Hathaway, Boeing, Chevron, Cisco, Citigroup, Comcast, ExxonMobil, Oracle, Salesforce, Walmart and the Walt Disney Company. None of the companies immediately responded when contacted for comment.

“Today’s report demonstrates that the inequities observed during this crisis are deeply rooted in our economy and have persisted throughout the pandemic,” Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., chair of the subcommittee, said in a statement. “These findings underscore the urgent need to address inequality as we continue to work to achieve a strong, sustainable, and equitable economic future.” 

Salaried workers at some of these companies often faired better than lower-paid hourly counterparts. For instance, Walmart’s hourly staff quit or were fired at higher rates and received raises and promotions at lower rates than salaried workers 80% of the time, according to the report.

Black hourly workers at Walmart were also reportedly fired twice as often as white hourly workers in 2020, at 19.7% vs. 10.4%. Members of this group were also fired three times as frequently, 19.7%, as Black salaried employees at 6.3% and almost five times as frequently, 19.7%, as white salaried employees at 4%.

Despite the disparities, Walmart laid off relatively fewer people during the pandemic compared with other large employers. The company let go of 1,240 employees — far less than the 32,000 laid off by Disney. Boeing was next with 26,000 laid off, according to data compiled by the subcommittee.

Cisco and Chevron laid off 3,500 and 4,500, respectively. And Exxon Mobil laid off 14,000. The remaining companies let go of between 1,000 to 13,000 of their employees.

Company layoffs also affected older workers at a higher rate than younger workers. Workers 50 and older were laid off at double, triple, or even quintuple the rate of younger workers, but younger workers quit or retired at double or triple the rate of older workers, the subcommittee found.

Benefits were also a factor in employee retention. One company lost 28.8% of male hourly workers and 35.5% of female hourly workers in 2020 because of a lack of paid sick leave. In comparison, 10.2% of male hourly workers and 12.4% of female hourly workers with access to sick leave quit that year.

But the dire outlook for hourly workers was only true for some companies during the pandemic,…