Rather than get into that other debacle, I figured I'd start a new debacle of my own.
I'm curious, are you guys starting to feel the effects of the outbreak on your business? Are people postponing, cancelling work?
Are you even attempting to stay working?, if you're not a shop owner, what has your boss said to you about the prospects of staying working through this?
Are disty's starting to close up?
After my initial shock of all this, I thought...Jeez, if guys can still get gear, this might actually be a bit of a boom for an AV business. (On paper anyway). It's a perfect situation. Millions of people trapped in their homes, having to deal with each other, what better distraction than a giant TV, etc?
Or.... people are starting to feel a little less secure..Maybe they're looking for cameras?
Or are they just holding on to their money because of the insecurity of it all?
The opposite here. Most don't want visitors anymore. Some condos, Apartments are shut down. I have not seen any Wuhan flu cases, but I will know more tomorrow when my wife goes to work. She works in the hospital.., so we maybe not working just to safeguard others if the news is not good.
I may be schizophrenic, but at least I have each other.
Part of this equation depends on the level of trust between you and your clients.
Can you depend on your clients using good hygiene practices and your clients trust you to do the same? And if either party is exhibiting symptoms, this information should be shared with the other.
Unfortunately, transmission is possible while still asymptomatic or the symptoms can be so minimal that the carrier is not fully aware that they are infected. Testing is not a complete answer because there can be false negatives during the initial stage of infection. And, of course, someone can become infected post test.
New construction pre-wires should be relatively safe if there is minimal crew on the site and good hygiene is practiced -- by everyone.
My boss left me the option to not work, and take vacation pay, or stay home unpaid. I am the only employee aside from the 2 owners, and they have been out of the office prepping their house to sell. Luckily, this week, I am just working at the shop configuring, programming, and testing for an upcoming out of town project.
Any clients requesting work done in their home, for the foreseeable future, will be required to sign a liability waiver before I step foot on their property. Today, I scheduled a hang and bang for an older couple for this coming friday. They did not express any concern. I did tell them they still had to sign the waiver though.
No one knows what the situation will be in a week or a month or in 3 months. But this mess will cause all kinds of labor related issues. Guys not willing to work. Can you fire them for this? Probably depends on your state and/or your ethics as an employer. Guys willing to work but clients or agencies not allowing them work in their homes/businesses. Now what do you do? Pay your people to mop the floor at the shop? Organize the vans?
I can unfortunately see situations where people have to subcontract to those willing to work, but those people inflating their labor rates because of the demand. I can also see some "pro bono" work getting done in the spirit of helping out. Hopefully the latter is more common than the former.
It would be nice, but not at all practical, if everyone would just put everything on pause for a month or 3. Let things settle down. I have heard of some places freezing mortgage and utility payments, so people who cannot work will not have to worry about paying bills they cannot afford to pay. I have heard of banks giving people up to 90 days or more grace periods on car loans, etc. to give some relief.
The future is uncertain, and we can only look ahead so far. Worry about today and take tomorrow as it comes. Wash your hands and do not cough on people.
"When I eat, it is the food that is scared." - Ron Swanson
Pretty much all of my work these days is commercial multi-use buildings. These projects take years to plan and once they are started they are fully funded and get finished no matter what. Right now i'm flying along as if nothing has happened. Have one project with the final handover at the end of May, another with final handover mid July, another that broke ground a month ago and I should be in wiring in June and another breaking ground late April early May.
I went to fix a network a couple days ago. While there, I hear the client talking on the phone about a coworker showing symptoms. He then comes over and shows me pics on his phone of him sitting courtside at a Celtics/Jazz game before the NBA was shut down just several days earlier. He shows a picture of the player, Gobert, that tested positive about 3 feet away from him. Now I'm not all that concerned about myself being infected, however I have a 4 month old son at home. So I decided to shut it down. I can't trust my clients to be truthful or upfront, so I am not risking my son's health. Better to be safe than sorry.
We’ve been getting pushed up deadlines and new projects that must happen right now because clients are wanting to flee the city to the mountains. Personally, I’m leaning towards barricading the roads instead of letting them come up and increase the population right now.
Civil War reenactment is LARPing for people with no imagination.
Now I'm not all that concerned about myself being infected, however I have a 4 month old son at home. So I decided to shut it down. I can't trust my clients to be truthful or upfront, so I am not risking my son's health. Better to be safe than sorry.
Isn't it amazing how the priorities of the world change when you grow up (or have little people depend on you)? If only young people could see the world through the eyes of an old person.
I'm reading more & more about how long this is going to go on for. I mean we are still just at the beginning and this can go on all year. A vaccine is still a long way off and I read today that we could be looking at 18 months before the virus does all it can do.
Unless you are sitting on a nest egg (and if you do this for a living, there is no way you are); you HAVE to work. None of us can afford to be out of work more than a month or two. And for some of us, we would lose everything and be homeless if out of work much longer than that. So for MANY people, there is no choice. It is work and hope you don't get sick. And if you do, fight thru it and hope you don't die from it - or permanently lose a % of lung function, which is happening to some that recover.
Unless you are sitting on a nest egg (and if you do this for a living, there is no way you are); you HAVE to work. None of us can afford to be out of work more than a month or two. And for some of us, we would lose everything and be homeless if out of work much longer than that.
That's a great point, and I'm sure one that's crossed all of our minds in the last few days. The uncertainty of it all isn't helping.
But, how do you work if the customers won't let you come to their home? (assuming you're a RESI guy). Do you think people will get so tired of being "shut-ins" that they'll start taking risks?
I've had a few guys tell me that bigger jobs have postponed on them. Even some of the wealthier folks may start holding on to their money to see what tomorrow may bring?
At some point, something's gotta give, right?
Maybe now is the time to start shaking the bushes really hard before it gets real bad?
People will try and get by for as long as they can. But let's be real, when essential things break (i.e. internet, TV, etc.), they are going to call someone. And when the service provider won't come out (or the client doesn't trust them), I expect I'm going to get the call. Which I will be desperate to do at that point.
In negotiations for payment, I hope to barter several rolls of toilet paper to bring back home.
And on that note: WTF are all these people doing with the toilet paper!!! I'm down to 5 rolls left and stores have been empty for over a week. Store employee told me when they get a truck in, people are waiting to take every last roll they have. It never even makes it to the shelves. I'm mounting bars on the truck now. I will have to hit the highway to look for the supply trucks. Go all Mad Max on their arse and take a load.
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