coronavirus pandemic

Deandrea Rahming was apprehensive about going back to work after more than a decade out of the job market, but in the wake of the pandemic she found employers eager to hire.

Economy

Women are returning to the job market in droves, just when the U.S. needs them most

11:15am July 05, 2023

by Scott Horsley

The pandemic was hard on working women, but they've come roaring back into the labor force. The share of working-age women who have jobs or want one hit an all-time high in May.

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Zoom CEO and founder Eric Yuan speaks before the Nasdaq opening bell ceremony in April 2019. The company saw rapid growth during the pandemic but is now laying off about 15% of its workforce.

National

Zoom is the latest tech firm to announce layoffs, and its CEO will take a 98% pay cut

1:50pm February 08, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

Zoom, a hallmark of pandemic life, is laying off some 1,300 employees, or about 15% of its workforce. CEO Eric Yuan said he and other executives will take pay cuts and forgo bonuses.

Protesters shout slogans during a protest against China's strict coronavirus measures on Monday in Beijing, China. Protesters took to the streets in multiple Chinese cities after a deadly apartment fire in Xinjiang province sparked a national outcry as many blamed COVID-19 restrictions for the deaths.

World News

China's lockdown protests and rising COVID leave Xi Jinping with '2 bad options'

1:46pm November 29, 2022

by John Ruwitch

Extraordinary street protests in some Chinese cities and campuses over the weekend put Xi Jinping's controversial approach to the pandemic under the spotlight.

Instead of going back to a corporate job, Farida Mercedes started her own business. It pays less, but she has more flexibility to spend time with her sons Sebastian (left) and Lucas, ages 7 and 9.

Economy

Women are returning to (paid) work after the pandemic forced many to leave their jobs

10:12am September 28, 2022

by Scott Horsley

The number of women in the workforce has finally returned to pre-pandemic levels, which is good for the economy. But after time away from the job market some women are reassessing their priorities.

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Tomeka Kimbrough-Hilson was diagnosed with uterine fibroids in 2006 and underwent surgery to remove a non-cancerous mass. When she started experiencing symptoms again in 2020, she was unable to get an appointment with a gynecologist. Her experience was n

A 'staggering' number of people couldn't get care during the pandemic, poll finds

3:31pm August 08, 2022

by Rhitu Chatterjee

Insured or not, one in five said they couldn't get treated for serious illness, while preventive and elective procedures were neglected. Disruptions in care hit Black and Native Americans the hardest.

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A Covid-19 testing site stands on a Brooklyn street corner in April.

A new dominant omicron strain in the U.S. is driving up cases — and reinfections

7:39pm July 11, 2022

by Allison Aubrey

BA.5 is now the dominant omicron strain in the U.S. It's good at evading the immune system, though doesn't appear to cause more serious illness.

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Stickler displays the poppy tattoo she got to commemorate her time on Broadway as an understudy for Elphaba in Wicked. After taking a coding boot camp, Stickler now works as a software engineer.

National

The pandemic pushed people to reevaluate their jobs. Meet 5 who reinvented themselves

8:02am July 10, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

Morning Edition spoke with people who changed their jobs and transformed their lives as a result of the pandemic, from a Broadway actor who entered the tech world to a mom who set more boundaries.

As the work-from-home crowd returns to the office, they're left wondering what to wear.

The pandemic has changed workplace fashion. What does that mean for you?

6:07am July 07, 2022

Many people traded in slacks for sweatpants during the worst of the pandemic and are now figuring out what to wear back to the office. Here's what that looks like, from Wall Street to Capitol Hill.

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A father plays with his son at a park in Amritsar, India, on Father's Day in June 2016.

National

For many dads, the COVID pandemic brought new perspectives on fatherhood

8:39am June 19, 2022

by Shauneen Miranda

With the pandemic giving fathers working from home a chance to spend more time with their kids, dads look back on how they've maintained the balance between their jobs and their families.

The omicron variant, though much more contagious than the delta strain, is still prevalent in the U.S. but is less likely than delta to cause long COVID, according to a new study.

Omicron poses about half the risk of long COVID as delta, new research finds

6:30pm June 16, 2022

by Rob Stein

Some scientists estimate that cases of long COVID from omicron will still rise, however, because of high transmissibility and the misconception that people don't have to worry about catching it.