Shipping under duress

If you’re stuck at home trying to ride out the pandemic, you’ve probably done some online shopping — maybe even for things that aren’t truly essential.

But before you open that cardboard box, think about the workers who brought the package to your door.

In all phases of America’s shipping pipeline, frontline staffers are at risk. Here’s a closer look at what they’re up against.

Phase 1: Your order starts at the warehouse

Amazon is one of the few places left standing for items you can’t get at your local grocery. The company is hiring like crazy, but cracks in the base o’ Bezos are starting to show:

• CNN reported that at least 11 Amazon facilities have been hit by coronavirus cases so far. (The company says it has more than 110 fulfillment centers in North America.)
• Some warehouse workers have complained that they weren’t notified when colleagues tested positive. Three workers at a Kentucky facility tested positive, and the state’s governor ordered it shut down until April 1. 

The company is prioritizing shipments of essential goods, but even those might be hard to come by. A 12-pack of Amazon’s Presto paper towels is out of stock until the second week of April.

Phase 2: It’s on the truck

Crazy fluctuations in supply and demand have the trucking industry swerving to avoid danger. Drivers have lots to haul but little to bring back on the return trip:

• Last week, shipments to grocery and discount stores were up more than 50% over the same period in 2019. But restaurants and retail stores are ghost towns.
• One exec told The Wall Street Journal that the pandemic is forcing the industry to “redesign the network in real time.”

Then there are the on-the-job struggles. Some truck stops are shutting down eateries and restrooms, and drivers are running low on sanitary supplies.

Phase 3: It’s out for delivery

Now your package is in the hands of a delivery driver or a postal worker. They’re all being hit hard:

• The $2T stimulus package passed by the Senate included a $10B Treasury loan for the Postal Service. Two members of Congress said the service wouldn’t survive the summer without financial assistance, since mail volumes have plunged. 
• At least 85 of the nation’s 630k postal workers have fallen ill, raising fears of an outbreak among employees. 

Keep in mind: The Postal Service says there’s currently no evidence that COVID-19 is spread through the mail. So here’s a suggestion: Show the workers who deliver your packages and letters a little love.

Au revoir, awkward Tinder date. Bonjour, awkward Zoom date.

That’s the nouveau reality for lonely singles in the age of coronavirus. The pandemic isn’t stopping people from swiping — they’re just doing it more creatively, and from a safe distance.

Sometimes, you gotta bumble through it

Let’s be honest: First dates are tough even when you can sit closer than 6 feet away from your match. 

Bumble is promoting video chats as virtual icebreakers, and Tinder made its paid Passport feature free for everyone — it lets you swipe around the world to find new connections outside of your sad self-quarantine bubble.

There’s even a new app tailor-made for these times: OKZoomer (golf clap for the name) was created for college students who want to crush on people from a social distance.

So you’re ready to take things past 1st base…

…don’t sweat. The… um, New York City government… has you covered. Twitter got hot and bothered over NYC’s guide to safe corona-copulation (TL;DR: when in doubt, rub one out, OR get down with your roommate, but DEFINITELY NO rimming!).

Other options for adventurous types: MIT Tech Review says high-tech sex toys and VR strip clubs are all on the rise. Not to mention corona-fetish content. (We’re not into kink-shaming, but… what???)

Sex workers are pivoting, too

Many of them are raising money to support each other — the pandemic has dealt a major blow to their livelihoods. 

Some are moving online. But the ones who don’t already have a virtual presence are running into a classic business problem: It’s hard to challenge the well-established incumbents.

Looking for a tech, sales or finance job? Let Vettery help

For those of you in these industries who lost your jobs this month, we feel for you. But this ain’t Facebook, and sending “good thoughts” doesn’t cut it for us.

Instead, we’ll do you one better and actually point you towards a platform to help you land a new role, even with everything going on (AKA, you won’t have to leave your house). 

Vettery’s online hiring marketplace has job pairing down to a science. Here’s what you can do right now to start finding a new role:

• Create a profile (and make sure to update your info to reflect your most recent role)
• Identify what kind of roles you’re looking for as well as other details
• Vettery’s real-time data, machine learning, and matching algorithms will pair you with companies looking for your exact skills
• Companies that fit your mold will reach out to you, not the other way around 

See? Simple. We know it’s tough, but roll up those sleeves and get back out there. We have faith. 

Across the world, governments are closing borders to contain the coronavirus. 

Border closures affect many businesses with international supply chains: According to a recent report, 75% of US businesses have experienced supply chain disruptions due to coronavirus.

But while borders are a big part of many industries, they are the backbone of others…

And now, border-conomies are starting to go bust

Take a look at how the closure of the border between Poland and Ukraine is killing Poland’s construction industry, for instance.

In normal times, around 2m Ukrainians work in Poland every day and power the country’s booming, $47B construction industry (which accounts for 8% of the country’s GDP).

But now that the border’s closed, the entire industry is at risk of grinding to a halt — even though the virus outbreak in Poland is not as advanced as it is in many other parts of Europe.

So border management just became a very big deal

By yesterday afternoon, 47 countries had entirely closed their borders and another 48 countries had partially closed theirs.

But enforcement policies varied widely. In many cases, governments tried to enact policies that would close borders to the coronavirus… but keep them open for business.

• The border between the US and Mexico, which handles $1.4B in freight daily, is closed to casual pedestrian travelers — but open to workers and commercial shipments.
• And at the border between Poland and Germany, which is supposedly closed to people but open to commerce, 37-mile-long traffic jams formed as trucks tried to get their cargo over the line.

Self-quarantine will end (eventually), but remote work is here to stay

Over 5 million Americans already work from home at least half the time. 

Our point? It’s time to invest in a proper home office — one that’s a little more sustainable than your current laptop-on-a-shoebox setup.

Fully has everything you need to upgrade your home office. We’re talkin’ versatile standing desks, healthier chairs, and even balance boards to keep you on your toes. See for yourself…

One Hanoi restaurant has a plan for tackling COVID-19: “If you want to beat it, eat it.” 

According to Reuters, chefs at the takeaway shop Pizza Home are staining hamburger buns with green tea and topping them with dough “crowns” so they look like a virus isolate — think of that 3D coronavirus photo that every major publication is using right now. 

Coronaburgers are not blowing the buns off Pizza Home, but they’re definitely popular — the restaurant sells about 50 a day.

Burgers are only the beginning

While we huddle in our homes, the virus is starting to creep into our buying lives — often in ethically dubious ways. Everything is coronavirus-themed right now. 

• Corona merch is booming on Etsy, CafePress, and Raygun, where you can buy a “quarantine bingo” T-shirt and a “self-quarantine wine glass” among other staples.
• “Coronavirus,” a song born from a Cardi B Instagram video and remixed by the DJ iMarkkeyz, is a streaming hit.
• Another musical entry: “Corona Virus” by Lil Nix, further proof that we are entering the age of pandemic pop. 
• A viral TikTok dance, the #GhenCoVyChallenge, is also an international PSA about washing your hands.

Never forget the OG 

And of course, we have the pandemic heavyweight: Corona beer. After the beer brand took it upon itself to clarify that “there is no link between the virus and our business” at the end of February, 20-something meme-makers have embraced Corona as their own. 

In Facebook groups like Zoom Memes for Self Quaranteens, Corona beer plays a starring role.