Survey: Pandemic reduces income of more than half of workers

A survey of workers around the country showed that more than half have seen their incomes reduced or eliminated as a result of the COVID-10 pandemic.

Boulder-headquartered FlexJobs Corp., an online job services company for professionals seeking remote or flexible-scheduled work, in partnership with Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU) released its findings from a survey on how COVID-19 impacts personal financing in the U.S.

The survey was of more than 1,100 respondents in the U.S. It found that 53% of people are currently earning half or less of their pre-pandemic income. Another 31% have lost their entire income.

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The study revealed that respondents didn’t have enough rainy-day-funds to last a substantial amount of time. An overall 62% of those surveyed do not have enough emergency savings to last six months. Of that, 24% said their savings would not even last one month.

“At FlexJobs, we are deeply aware of how intricately jobs and finances are intertwined, which is why we have partnered with Prudential to gain a better understanding of the challenges that many people are now facing,” said Sara Sutton, founder and CEO of FlexJobs in a news release.

The survey also evaluated respondents financial health pre-pandemic, major expenses deferred to a later time, unemployment claims, search for additional income or more hours at work and insurance status.

FlexJobs and Prudential also looked at how opinions about work-from-home have changed. More than half view remote work as more favorable than before. 

If offered the choice, the majority of respondents favor remote or flexible work after the pandemic is over. If given a choice, 71% would prefer to work remotely full-time, and 25% would prefer a combination of remote and office work.

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