WASHINGTON (AP) — Call it realism or pessimism, but more U.S. employers seem to be recognizing a growing possibility: That many, if not most, of the employees they’ve had to lay off in the face of the coronavirus pandemic may not be returning to their old jobs anytime soon.

Some large companies won’t have enough customers to justify it. And some small businesses won’t likely survive at all despite aid provided by the federal government.

In the April jobs report issued Friday, a record-shattering 20.5 million people lost jobs. Yet a sizable majority of the jobless — nearly 80% — characterized their loss as temporary.