It is a scene being played across the nation, county and the Lehigh Valley.

Employees may be asked to gather in the corporation auditorium, meet in smaller groups in a conference room or large office, close the door behind them as they cross the threshold of their immediate supervisor’s office.

Some gatherings may need to wait for an owner or company CEO or upper level manager to appear. Nervous whispers may be exchanged.

Throats are cleared.

And then the words, heard frequently right now, are spoken.

“You are laid off.”

Concerns about the seemingly warp speed spread of the novel coronavirus have brought staff reductions and, worse, closures and other changes to many businesses Lehigh Valley residents use everyday.

At the time work on this editorial started, charter, district, parochial, private and other schools, including day care facilities throughout the county, state and nation were closed. Area colleges and universities and public libraries were temporarily shuttered. Cruise ships are docked. Restaurant dining rooms and car dealership showrooms are quiet. Concert halls are dark. Movie theaters. Gyms. Hair salons. Spas. Community centers. Closed.

And many of their workers laid off.

“More than half a million Pennsylvanians have filed new unemployment claims during the past week,” Rebecca Moss, writing for Spotlight PA, described as a media group specializing in independent watchdog investigative journalism, noted in an article updated on the Spotlight PA website March 25.

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor has dedicated a specific section of its website for workers affected by the coronavirus and COVID-19 titled “Information For Pennsylvania Employees Impacted By COVID-19.” Workers are encouraged to visit the site regularly for information and updates.

The site offers details about who is eligible to receive unemployment benefits, what benefits are available, how to file a claim and other information and resources for those who have heard those four little words.

Pennsylvania farmer and business owner Lou Caputo Jr., a mushroom farmer featured in a recent article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, had to scrap much of his harvest. His customers include restaurants, cafeterias and other businesses needing large quantities of fresh mushrooms. Caputo donated 20,000 pounds of his crop to food banks.

“I took 160 workers and showed ‘em how to apply for unemployment,” Caputo told The Philadelphia Inquirer writer Joseph N. DiStefano.

Those four little words can evoke a range of reactions.

A relative of mine who lives in New Jersey has welcomed the unexpected time off from her job. She is boxing items for charity she’s been meaning to get to for several months.

A neighbor in my subdivision has been cleaning her garage.

When I was a kid, being laid off meant the promise of more time with my mother during summer vacation from school.

As mentioned in an earlier editorial in these pages, my mother worked for what was then Pet Frozen Foods on Downyflake Lane, where Downyflake waffles were made in gigantic ovens. The plant got too hot in July for work, according to my mother’s explanation to me, the youngest, so employees were given time off, sometimes a week or 10 days. Family day trips and vacations were planned around that time of year, especially if my father took corresponding time off from his accounting work at Air Products and Chemicals, Trexlertown. Being laid off meant family time.

Now I’m not so sure.

When not working here at The Press newspapers I also work part time for a business on what is locally known as the Lehigh Valley auto mile.

On March 20 I heard those four little words.

April Peterson

editorial assistant

East Penn Press

Salisbury Press