Queens, New York– “Working at a bank, especially now more than ever, it seems kinda… unethical.” Gerardo Sanchez, 26 years old, works as a bank teller at CitiBank in Queens, New York– the prior epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We are expected to sell credit cards, offer loans, and refer other banking products when people are struggling to make ends meet… filing for unemployment and running behind on payments.” Despite the global pandemic affecting millions of Americans and the economy being in a recession, bank staff are expected to continue to offer products to meet their sales goals. Sales pressures as a teller have always been too much to handle, resulting in sales fraud in cases like Wells Fargo where the sales goal is obsolete. Now, during a pandemic, tellers are expected to make numbers for their branch at a time where business is slow, people are receiving economic assistance, and small businesses are struggling.

Sanchez has been working at CitiBank for over a year, landing a secure job at a time where many New Yorkers were experiencing getting furloughed and laid off due to state health mandates. Sanchez left his previous job to seek better working conditions, as he felt that his last job, working at a pharmacy, during a pandemic was too high-risk. “I am very grateful to have gotten this job during the pandemic, I understand the position that I am and that many people would love to be in my position. I can’t help, but feel wrong every time I offer a credit card knowing that people will most likely add unnecessary debt into their lives.” 

Sanchez not only refers and sells products to meet his sales goal, he also conducts basic teller transactions– deposits, withdrawals, cashing checks, wire transfers, and printing checks and money orders. “During my teller transactions, I have to see the accounts of people who are struggling financially and I go home with that in mind that many people in our community are suffering tremendously due to the pandemic.”  Browsing the accounts of people who are economically impoverished can seriously affect their mental health and make people feel hopeless. It gives insight on how the community is doing financially and he says that it isn’t too good. 

His bank location specifically is understaffed due to staff needing to quarantine and CitiBank does not have enough money in the budget to hire more people. “Lines are out the door, sometimes it’ll be just me and another teller handling transactions back to back to back. I get so drained and tired, customers get upset, but there isn’t really anything we can do. I’m not an ATM. I’m not a robot. There is only so much you can do at once.” Despite the circumstances, some clients do not empathize. 

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