Businessman standing between two downward-trending arrows

U.S. workers have lost a bruising $1.3 trillion in yearly earnings through layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to research from the Society for Human Resource Management and global advisory firm Oxford Economics.

The data, collected between April 27 and May 1, revealed that about 19 million people — 13% of hourly workers and 14% salaried — had been furloughed or made redundant.

More women lost jobs than men, which, according to ZipRecruiter labor economist Julia Pollak, is because they're more likely to have child and elder care responsibilities, and because the worst-hit industries have a majority-female workforce. These include hospitals, schools and childcare services, salons, dental offices and clothing stores.

Experts also suspect that actual unemployment rates stand at about 25% — much higher than the official rate of 14.7% reported mid-April. That's because they anticipate many people are not yet looking for work.

And thanks to widespread pay cuts, the average worker has lost $8,900 of their yearly income. Hotel and restaurant staff saw the worst of that, according to the analysis, which doesn't include self-employed workers.

Hourly workers who still had jobs in late April watched their hours fall by about 9% across all sectors, according to the data, which said 5% of workers on a salary witnessed a 14% drop.

On average, salaried and hourly workers are in a similar boat when it comes to income reduction, having lost $640 billion and $629 billion, respectively.

SHRM's President and CEO Johnny C. Taylor Jr. called the figures hard to look at, but said leaders should take note.

"This is our reality—and it underscores the urgency with which we must move to safely reopen and return to work," Taylor said.

Employment levels probably won't recover quickly, according to Oxford Economics, which hypothesized that about 20% of large metropolitan areas and 11% of smaller communities will be back on track by the end of 2022.

Experts say the ability to work from home will be key to recovery, and jobseekers are increasingly searching for "online" and "wfh" (work from home) job postings.

The data stems from SHRM's biweekly Business Index study on the effects of COVID-19.

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$1.3 trillion down: These COVID-19-era unemployment stats are not pretty

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