Sen. Dick Durbin on the coronavirus rescue plan for airlines, small businesses

Sen. Dick Durbin (D—Ill.) joins "Squawk Box" by phone to discuss what the federal government is working on to help assist Americans during the coronavirus crisis.

The coronavirus takes an emotional toll on business owners who have invested their lives building a company and brand, “Shark Tank” investor and cybersecurity entrepreneur Robert Herjavec said Thursday.

He said he has had to lay off about 8% of Herjavec Group’s 350-person workforce, a “painfully brutal” move.

“The thought of it possibly all going away is really scary,” Herjavec said on CNBC’s “Squawk Alley.” “I don’t care if you’re a Shark. I don’t care how much money you’re worth. I don’t care if you’re a small business. People take a lot of pride in their small businesses.”

Entrepreneurs do not start businesses “just for a paycheck,” said the CEO and founder of Herjavec Group, which provides cybersecurity products and services to business.

“They have their entire ego and who they are and everything tied into that, so it’s been really hard,” he said.

Herjavec said a few weeks ago, as the economic threat from the coronavirus intensified, he had to make the layoffs.

“We had to do some initial layoffs to nonessential services so that we could actually increase our services people,” he said. “I’ve got to tell you, it’s brutal. It’s absolutely, painfully brutal. You feel guilty. You feel bad.”

Government mandates to slow the spread of COVID-19 have brought the U.S. economy to a near halt. In the last two weeks alone, roughly 10 million Americans have filed jobless claims.

Herjavec, who owns stakes in many small and medium-size businesses, said the jobless claims were of “biblical proportions” and said he expects more layoffs in April.

“The emotion for every small business owner is really difficult,” he said.



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