First off, a note: If your boss is making you come in to work a nonessential job, tell them to fuck themselves. We’ll take the credit/blame if you need a fall guy. We will also help you find a new job purely out of spite.

If you are working an essential job, thank you!

If you, like us, are lucky enough to be earning a paycheck from home — even if you haven’t figured out a flattering angle for all these video calls — please take wealth distribution into your own hands. Give to service industry folks and small business owners. Donate to a food bank. Buy art. Share resources. Pay for news. Just give money to someone who needs it, or toilet paper, or bread. Call someone with kids and do your absolute best to distract them via FaceTime while their poor parents shelter in place in the bathroom.

We have always been all we have, and it is enough.

We’ve already donated everything that even looks like a “profit” from this newsletter, and we’re pausing bills for our small business clients who need it while we work together to figure this out. We’re also making this newsletter free until Morale Improves (though, like, we cannot promise this newsletter will improve morale). Tell us what else to do! We will be sharing resources here as they come in. Make that friend you want to yell at subscribe and we will yell at them for you.

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Despite and because of all of this, there is still news about jobs, and we will still do our best to stay on top of it. What we’re not going to do is update you on unemployment numbers, economic prophecies and general dread. We are so good at finding the dread for ourselves, and we imagine you are too!

OK, yes there were rumblings of layoffs at State Farm and Cushman and Wakefield before all of this started, but we do not need to dwell.

Instead, let’s talk about the fact that Mondelez is planning to open a bakery and coffee shop in its new Fulton Market office (should someone tell them?). It’s great news for people who work there — the chef is from Per Se! — but we do feel that it’s worth noting that the cafe will not be selling Oreos, Ritz crackers or belVita … does anyone know what belVita technically is? Might be telling that your own employees would prefer to pay for “vanilla-lime Bon Bons” than eat Toblerone for free.

What else? Insurance brokers Aon and Willis Towers Watson are merging in a $30 billion deal to create the largest player in the industry. Given that they’ve said it’s about “getting better, not bigger,” we don’t expect a lot of hiring to happen. But we are curious about what will become of the two Chicago landmarks that share names with the businesses. Aon will continue to be a brand. But if you devoted any energy to learning to call it the Willis Tower, well, that might have been a waste.

Auto insurance software company CCC Information Services may be looking to join its peers in westward expansion, moving from the Merchandise Mart to Fulton Market. The move would take the company from 125,000 square feet to 180,000 — although, yeah, those plans may change.

Jobs. With the potential to pay money.
If you’ve got a job, you’re probably sitting tight and thanking stars. However, #QuarantineAndChill means you’ve got time to see what’s available on LinkedIn, catch up with contacts, and feel some semblance of control, especially if your boss has been a bastard through all this. But if you or a friend are out of work, here are places hiring right now.

Disclaimer: You know how we felt about some of these companies pre-corona — concerns about safety and sick time, and the gig economy in general. But for now we’ll STFU and tip generously.

Now hiring
Pretty much all grocery stores, hardware stores and pharmacies including Mariano’s, Shipt, The Jewel, Amazon, UPS, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Domino’s, Costco, CVS, Walgreens, Whole Foods, 7-Eleven, Home Depot

Probably hiring
Everything delivery: Instacart, Foxtrot, Uber Eats, Postmates, DoorDash, Grubhub, Caviar. Also, laundry services, e-learning, and anything to do with conference calls and online meetings. Cannabis TBD 🤞

Most of these won't be your dream job, but there are hours if you need them. Leave it off your resume, or not. Anyone who cares is an asshole.

Find more resources and ideas in this Indeed Career Guide: What to do if your job is affected by coronavirus

Inspiration of the week

In the western world, our tendency is to see resilience as a set of individualistic traits rather than the combined and diverse capacities and resources of a community. It’s time to change that.
We have an opportunity to activate the specific type of collective resilience that can emerge when faced with communal prolonged uncertainty and potential widespread trauma. A powerful antidote to loneliness and fear is purpose.

—Esther Perel, a psychotherapist who has spent some time thinking about how we can come together better, on our current situation and how we might make it through to the other side. The whole thing is good, including the list of tips.

Forward this email to anyone who needs a job now, or who needs a better one ASAP. They can sign up here.

Got a tip on an excellent job? Reply to this email, send us a new one at hey@gethustl.in, or reach out on Twitter.

This is how Chicago makes it through 💪

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