"There's so much uncertainly I'm pretty much lost in terms of what I'm supposed to do"
Name: Jake Vincent, 28, single, 2013 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill
Location: Raleigh, living with his dog, Wilson
Job Status: Unemployed gig worker. The graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill was a customer support at Rezdy, a travel and tourism booking tool. Vincent started at the technology company in January of 2019, and had a salary of $50,000.
Savings: $4,000 (Not including stimulus from the federal government, or unemployment benefits)
Health coverage: Currently uninsured
Dealing with state unemployment: Vincent went through the unemployment application in mid-March and is still waiting to receive a check. He is expecting to receive $350 per week through July.
Most worried about:
"The time it will take for my industry (technology) to get going; and, how long it's going to take me to be employed again. I'm thinking about landscaping or a grocery store job for the short-term. If things do back to normal in a month, than that won't really be necessary. But if it's going to be three or four, I need to find something temporary.
"I don't know how long this is going to last, and I'm just trying to survive. I don't like sitting around without employment, but then again, if I do find a job and it's only part-time, I could be making less than unemployment would give me. So it's just a weird situation, and I'm sure there are a lot of other people are in the kind of situation as well; trying to figure out what they should do.
"Not knowing what the future holds and how long it's going to be like this is the biggest challenge for me."
