Nurses and doctors rank high. But so do hairdressers and dentists.
Nurses and doctors rank high. But so do hairdressers and dentists.
The Workers Who Face the Greatest Coronavirus Risk
ByLazaro GamioMarch 15, 2020
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As the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the United States, people with jobs that put them in physical contact with many others are at the greatest risk of becoming sick.
Each bubble on this chart represents an occupation. The bigger the bubble, the more people do that job.
The vertical position of each bubble is a measure of how often workers in a given profession are exposed todisease and infection.
The horizontal position is a measure ofhow closepeople are to others during their workdays.
Health care workers are at the greatest risk — they can encounter diseases and infections daily and typically work in close proximity to one another and their patients. Many are alreadyunder quarantinebecause of exposure to the virus.
Personal care aides and home health aides who work with the elderly — the population most susceptible to the illness — are also vulnerable. At a nursing home in Washington Statelinked to25 coronavirus deaths as of Saturday, at least 70 employeeshave fallen sick.
First responders are also at high risk. Firefighters who responded to calls at the Washington nursing home are underextended quarantines. Paramedics across the country are takingextra precautionswhen responding to a possible coronavirus case.
School systems around the country have been closing. Teachers rate high both for exposure to illnesses and for their proximity to other people.
The risk isn’t limited to those on the front lines. Many people who do service jobs like cashiers and fast-food workers face elevated risks. Walmart, Starbucks and Uber are amongthe many companiesthat have had workers fall sick.
Workers in a number of professions facing elevated risk earn less than the national median wage. Many of these workers in low-paying jobs do not have paid sick leave, and many could still go to worksickto not lose income.
Hover over the bubbles to explore each profession, including how many people work in those jobs and what they earn.
The risk levels of various jobs were calculated usingO*NET, a database maintained by the Department of Labor that describes various physical aspects of different occupations. The database assigns dozens of scores to each occupation for things like how oftena telephone is usedto how often a job requires you tobend your body. (Housekeepers rank highest in this metric.)
As virus cases have grown, many businesses have begun closing offices and stores, and sending workers home to help slow the spread. While many companies haveemergency leavepolicies in place to help protect their employees, there are large portions of the population that have few protections. On Saturday, legislatorspasseda relief package that includes paid sick leave for workers affected by the coronavirus. But the benefits only apply to employees of companies with fewer than 500 employees, leaving millions of workers uncovered.
Percent of workers with access to paid leave benefits
Group
Sick leave
Personal leave
All workers
74%
45%
Nurses
92%
68%
Teachers
86%
62%
Service industry workers
56%
28%
Sales workers
65%
40%
Full-time workers
85%
54%
Part-time workers
40%
18%
Top 25 percent of earners
92%
63%
Bottom 25 percent of earners
47%
24%
For some workers — especially those in low-paying jobs — being furloughed could mean layoffs. In the Seattle area, one small catering company was forced tolet gonearly all its employees because of cancellations from big tech clients.
A growing number of companies have also been asking employees to do their jobs from home. But that arrangement is largely available only to white-collar workers. For many occupations, working from home is simply not feasible, including those who are on the front lines of the response and those who are on the lower end of the economic scale.
Percent of workers with the ability to work from home by income percentile
Income percentile
Percent
Bottom 25
9.2%
25-50
20.1%
50-75
37.3%
Top 25
61.5%
Sources:O*Net,Bureau of Labor Statistics. Income and employment statistics are from May 2018, themost recentOccupational Employment Statistics release.