With a massive amount of Americans losing their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are now millions of people scrambling to get back on their feet. It seems that few industries were hit quite as hard as the healthcare industry.
With over 1.4 million individuals losing their jobs in 2020 so far in the general medical field, alone, it is needless to say that the dental industry has felt shockwaves, as well. Let's take a look at just how extensive the damage is and try to make sense of the chaos that dental hygienists and dental assistants are experiencing right now.
A Growing Gap
As more and more people lose their jobs and access to the proper insurance or funding to get preventative medical care, the dental industry began to stall early into the pandemic. Coupled with the growing fear of viral contact, this crippled the entire dental professional marketplace, leaving little that could be done aside from battening the hatches and preparing for the long haul in some cases.
When no money is coming in, jobs cannot exist, so mass lay-offs and terminations became a regular occurrence. Soon, 503,000 jobs were closed by May of 2020 within the dental industry, with this not looking good for many others. As the weight of the situation set in, more and more employers had to make the tough call and let people go.
While no boss wants to terminate employees and change their entire business model, it is a survival mode methodology that makes sense, given the current struggles almost everyone in the country is enduring.
Many have chosen to lay-off employees temporarily until things get back to normal, but there is no way of knowing how long this will take. Due to this uncertainty, more and more professionals are looking for alternative work to keep a stable source of income flowing until more information is available about reopenings and potentially returning to work.
What to Do If You Are Laid-Off
If you have been unable to work and are a dental professional, one thing you can do to turn your pandemic panic back around is freelance. Within the gig economy, many dental hygienists and dental assistants who cannot currently work in their typical offices have found work through freelancing.
There are tons of hubs out there serving to help put people into jobs, including Stynt. As a leading marketplace for dental professionals in search of work, Stynt has been working to make finding work during COVID-19 easy and painless for displaced professional workers. All you have to do is sign up through the site information form or the app and begin looking for your new temporary work opportunities.