Houston Republic

A Houston-area parking company executive still has his job, despite his company's massive COVID-19 furloughs earlier this year, but he's concerned about other current and former employees.

James Timmons, director of operations in Premier Parking's Houston office, said the situation could become worse for workers if the various U.S. crises do not improve.

"I fear that if this pandemic continues to keep people away from their jobs and other activities that it will eventually lead to my company having no other option but to lay off all of their employees due to a lack of incoming revenue," Timmons said.

Timmons said he has witnessed the deteriorating situation firsthand.

"During the last 45 days, my team has feared that they could be laid off at a moment's notice and have expressed that they are nervous every time I call, which is daily," he said. "Several of our team members who are already laid off have reached out to me, desperate to begin working again."

Premier Parking's future is also far from certain. Its furloughed employees were among the first of millions laid off in the U.S. due to the COVID-19 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.

Most of those events have been 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 remaining, Premier Parking had no choice but to furlough hundreds of employees.

They are among the 21 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.

Timmons said he would like "the world to open back up immediately," but with the caveat that everyone continue social distancing and other strategies learned during the pandemic's early days.

"My hope is that everyone wakes up and realizes that people willing to trade freedom for temporary security will lose both," he said.