Weekly Briefing: This Is What a Mass Layoff Looks Like

Since the World Health Organization declared a pandemic in March 2020, colleges have lost a net total of at least 570,000 workers. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( [logo] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Please sign up to receive your own copy.]( You’ll support our journalism and ensure that you continue to receive our emails. [Read this newsletter on the web](. This is what historic layoffs look like. Every time you blink there are new numbers: coronavirus case counts, community infection rates, adjusted state budgets, and job losses. It's hard to envision what those numbers look like when they are so big, and often constantly growing. When I see figures that show mass job losses, I know they are impressive. Still, it's hard to process. Since the World Health Organization declared a pandemic in March 2020, colleges have lost a net total of [at least 570,000 workers]( according to preliminary figures from the U.S. Labor Department. I wanted to wrap my head around this statistic, so I asked editors and reporters to talk to some of the workers who were laid off this past year. I wanted to know: When colleges hemorrhage workers, who is pushed out? How do they pay the bills while they search for a new gig? Do they have families? Do these workers find jobs at other institutions or leave higher ed altogether? How are they told the bad news — on Zoom or a phone call? Despite the considerable number of laid-off workers in the industry, these interviews were hard to get. Our eight profiles show that workers were embarrassed, frustrated, and still grieving their job loss. The candor of the people interviewed, and how tough it was to get folks on the record, shows that these layoffs touched something beyond the loss of a paycheck. For many workers, especially in higher ed, work is tied to self-worth and identity. I encourage you to read every profile in [our Forced Out project]( and take time to picture who we lose when you see these colossal job-loss figures. Paid for and Created by The University of Queensland [University of Queensland researchers ready to face next challenge]( Developed by University of Queensland scientists, ‘molecular clamp’ technology stabilizes viral ‘spike’ proteins so that future vaccines can be more effective and scaled up rapidly for mass manufacturing. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( Subscribe to The Chronicle The Chronicle’s award-winning journalism challenges conventional wisdom, holds academic leaders accountable, and empowers you to do your job better — and it’s your support that makes our work possible. [Subscribe Today]( Lagniappe. - Learn. Sometimes I get to the end of a page in my novel and realize I haven't grasped a single word. My concentration is shot. There's fog everywhere. If this sounds like you, at least I'm not alone. We're all "[languishing]( (The New York Times) - Read. Welcome to luxury real-estate TikTok. [No, you can't leave](. (Washingtonian) - Listen. Slow Burn's fifth season focuses on the Iraq war. [The first episode is here](. (Spotify) - Watch. The 93rd Academy Awards are this Sunday. There's still time to binge the flicks on the ballot. ([New York]( Cheers, —Fernanda This Week‘s Top Reads THE PANDEMIC [A Yale Law Prof Was Disciplined for Holding Dinner Parties. There’s More to the Story.]( By Tom Bartlett [image] Amy Chua says the accusations that she was hosting “boozy parties” at her house, in apparent violation of her agreement with the law school’s dean, are false. She does cop to serving a cheese platter. ADVERTISEMENT [Advertisement]( LIVE CORONAVIRUS UPDATES [Here’s a List of Colleges That Will Require Students or Employees to Be Vaccinated Against Covid-19]( By Andy Thomason [image] More colleges are announcing that they will require students to be vaccinated. Here are the ones we know about. FACULTY [The Damage Campaign]( By Sarah Brown and Megan Zahneis [image] Caught up in a storm of false accusations, professors found themselves fighting to clear their names. Job Announcement Assistant Professor - Global Health, International Training and Education Center for Health (I-TECH) at University of Washington.[Visit jobs.chronicle.com]( for more details. Paid for and Created by Salesforce [A tech platform sharpens Morehouse College’s fundraising edge]( Last year, Morehouse College's advancement office raised a record $107 million. Read why Salesforce.org was such an integral part of their new advancement strategy and how the tech platform helped the College build upon existing efforts and increase levels of engagement. Today's Global Campus Strategies for Reviving International Enrollments and Study Abroad Pandemic travel restrictions cut both ways, causing international enrollments to plummet and limiting study-abroad opportunities. 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