Poll finds most Americans believe workers laid off during coronavirus will be rehired

Most Americans believe that workers laid off during the coronavirus pandemic will be rehired, according to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen. 

The poll was taken from May 28-30, a week prior to Friday's Labor Department report on lower-than-expected unemployment, amid the coronavirus pandemic that has shuttered much of the economy.

Image

Just the News Daily Poll

With Scott Rasmussen

The poll found 57% of respondents believe they would see "Laid Off Workers Rehired,' while 32% expected to see "More Job Loss" ahead.

"A plurality of voters (42%) seem to think that the worst of the economic devastation is behind us," Rasmussen said. "That doesn’t mean they’re ready to sing “Happy Days Are Here Again,” but that perhaps we’ve hit bottom and people will begin returning to work soon. Nearly as many, though, 34% believe things will continue to get worse and months of job losses are before us."

Men, by a 43% to 29% margin, take the optimistic perspective. Women are evenly divided. That’s consistent with a long history of data showing that women tend to offer more pessimistic views than men on the economy.

A plurality of voters under 35 expect job losses to continue, a plurality of older voters expect rehiring to be more common.

"In looking forward, it’s important to keep in mind that bad economic news depresses confidence almost immediately," Rasmussen said. "But it takes months and months of good economic news to increase confidence. It’s almost as if, when voters hear good news, they’re still waiting for the other shoe to drop. That’s especially true after a difficult economic time."