BELLFLOWER, Calif. — Leroy Hicks went to work each day as both a campaign organizer for George Gascón and a bouncer. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“They gave me a call and say we not coming in until further notice,” Hicks said. “I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
Hicks had been incarcerated before, so he knew finding a new job would be hard. Plus, his tattoos had turned off many employers in the past. He said he applied to many restaurants but couldn’t get hired.
“I feel like every restaurant has a certain type of look,” he said. “I didn’t fit into the persona of the certain restaurant I was going to. I always felt like I only fit in at the warehouses or all these odd jobs.”
The California Black unemployment rate was 5.3% in February 2020. Now it’s 11%, which is nearly six percentage points higher than the state unemployment rate of 5.4%.
UCLA researchers surveyed 2,000 Black workers about how the pandemic affected their jobs. They found close to 70% who lost their job or were furloughed during the pandemic have not been called back to work. Seventy-one percent were concerned about COVID-19 exposure on the job, and 90% of Black women surveyed had an increase in at-home and financial responsibilities.
Deja Thomas, a lead author of the study, explained that Black workers had just recovered from the great recession of 2008.
“We’re seeing that happen again where Black unemployment, without any targeted relief or strategic programming, we’re looking at 2030s before unemployment numbers reach us back to January 2020,” Thomas said.
Hicks has found some help with his search by joining the Ready to Work boot camp at the Los Angeles Black Worker Center.
Training specialist Zachary Johnson is helping Hicks and others get ready for long-term employment.
“We really help build Black worker power, get them involved in the community and really help them find opportunities and a career, more than a job as well,” Johnson said.
Hicks hasn’t found a full-time job yet but hopes to find something in construction or welding. He wants to build a future for his children.
More information about the LA Black Worker Center is available on its website.