We felt a bit guilty taking some of the money from the handout, until we saw how much more all the companies around us took. It all got snatched up as quick as companies could adjust their numbers to qualify.

While we were affected by a reduction in orders at beginning of the pandemic , we would have survived without layoffs anyway. But we decided to take the money and hold on to it in case the situation got worse. Now we’re sitting on a pot of gold that is supposed to help our workers from losing their jobs, but our current biggest labor issue is short staffing.