Volunteer State News

A Nashville-area employee of Premier Parking, furloughed because of the COVID-19 crisis, misses the meaning his work once gave him.

"Due to the coronavirus, I cannot work because everything is closed and that means I cannot earn money, which makes it difficult to pay the bills," Aman Habtezion, an auditor in Premier Parking's Nashville office, told Volunteer State News. "The mortgage, other utility bills, very hard to pay."

More than paying the bills, Habtezion said his job gave him the means to provide for his family.

"I would like to see work open," he said. "I want to go back to work."

It is unclear when Habtezion will go back to work as Premier Parking's future is far from certain. Premier Parking's furloughed employees were among the first of millions laid off in the U.S. over the coronavirus pandemic that landed the nation in "the weirdest recession ever," according to CNN.

In late March, after the company's nationwide furloughs began, a Premier Parking official described to Tennessee Business Daily the company's wobbly position and called for government assistance.

Before the pandemic, Premier Parking employed more than 2,000 associates in more than 600 locations in more than 40 cities across the nation, providing services at concerts, sporting and other events.

Those events were postponed or canceled, drying up Premier Parking's business. The company's customers have been largely stuck at home waiting out the ongoing crisis.

With few customers, Premier Parking had no choice but to furlough of hundreds of employees.

They are among the 21 million to 30 million unemployed – depending on who is counting – and another 1.5 million applied for jobless benefits last week.

Meanwhile, a second pandemic wave may be underway, complicated by nationwide uprisings following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Government should help companies like Premier Parking, which could then call their workers back, Habtezion said.

"I think the state and federal government can help the company financially so the company can get back on its feet," he said. "Then we can go back to work again, me and my coworkers. We will not be dependent on the government and we will pay taxes, too."