Four suggestions from businesses to prepare NJ for recovery More than 40% of the jobs lost in New Jersey in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic still hadn’t returned by the end of 2020. While the second wave of COVID-19 cases is still rising, the rollout of vaccines raises the chances of things getting closer to normal later this year. Business owners say that to get there successfully, there are things the state needs to focus on now, so the recovery can start on time. “Without jobs, jobs, jobs and jobs, our economy cannot bounce back,” said Michele Siekerka, president and chief executive officer of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. “We need to do whatever is in our might and right to get New Jersey’s workers and employees back to work in order to get our economy humming.”