America’s biggest companies are flourishing during the pandemic and putting thousands of people out of work

December 16, 2020 ☼ pandemiceconomy

Source: The Washington Post - Link

As the coronavirus pandemic devastated small businesses and plunged millions of Americans into poverty this summer and fall, executives at some of the country’s largest corporations sounded surprisingly upbeat.

“I don’t think we’ve ever been more excited or energized about our prospects,” PayPal finance chief John Rainey said on a November conference call.

“These are times when the strong can get stronger,” Nike chief John Donahoe told analysts in September.

“With all that’s happening around the world, it’s really unfortunate,” said Jensen Huang, chief executive of graphics chip maker Nvidia, during an August earnings call. “But it’s made gaming the largest entertainment medium in the world.”

The companies are thriving because of two things: extreme cost cutting by laying off employees and demand increasing for certain services like at-home shopping and gaming.