Faces of the Coronavirus Recession

Like millions of others, Liz McLemore always got her health insurance coverage through her job. In April, she suddenly had to figure out how to find coverage in the middle of a pandemic.

Like many people whose jobs involve personal interaction, Nicole Burke Stephenson had to get creative to keep making money while social distancing.

A center in Spokane, Wash., has been operating at one-third capacity under pandemic guidelines. Co-owner Luc Jasmin III says it has been tough to turn away parents, many of whom are essential workers.

As a low-wage worker, Yesenia Ortiz wishes she would get paid more during the pandemic because of the extra level of risk to which she is exposed.

Avery Hoppa, a nurse in New Hampshire, says she's "incredibly grateful" that she and her husband still work. But she says it "feels weird to be a consumer right now" when so many can't afford to eat.

Keri Belcher has worked in the oil and gas industry. But she's considering switching careers — even if it means less time outdoors, which is what attracted her to geology in the first place.

In his 30 years working at McDonald's, Bartolomé Perez joined several strikes to demand higher wages and better benefits. But the stakes have felt very different during the coronavirus pandemic.

Todd Olson is CEO of a Minneapolis manufacturer that played a key role in a project to help General Motors make ventilators for the pandemic. He calls the effort "our biggest moment."

Cynthia Murray's was worried about her health in the pandemic. Then a man shouted at her. "I just really felt uncomfortable," she says. So she went on unpaid leave.

The hourly pay at Amazon is much lower than what Theodore Johnson earned as a massage therapist, but the new job comes with a key benefit he didn't have before.