What California must do to ensure employment recovers from the pandemic Pedro Nava, Sean Varner and David Beier Feb. 16, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail A line of empty chairs outside Danville’s Crumbs restaurant in December bears the names of workers who have lost their jobs during the pandemic.Michael Liedtke / Associated Press 2020 For some of the 1.5 million Californians now out of work due to COVID, the disruption of the pandemic recession will become a permanent loss: Their jobs will never come back. To help them, California must strengthen and streamline its training system so that for the many workers now not receiving a paycheck, better training can lead to better jobs.