Nearly half of Venezuela's workforce could be unemployed by the end of 2020. The IMF forecasts a jobless rate of nearly 50 percent- the highest in the world. That projection isn't just pegged to COVID-19, although the lockdown has made life tougher for most Venezuelans.

Forty-one-year-old Arquimedes Rigual trained as a civil engineer, but now he works as a car mechanic in Maturin, Venezuela. Fixing cars would normally keep food on the table for his wife and their three children. But with the country on lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, business has dried up. Now, he can barely afford two meals for his family. 

He has managed to find a way to make a little money, doing odd car or appliance repair jobs at home. "I think a lot of people nationwide like me lost much of their work and they are looking for different ways to make ends meet. It hasn't been easy for anybody." Arquimedes said.

More than five million of Venezuela's workers in the informal sector stopped earning money during the lockdown. When the lockdown first started, the Venezuelan government banned companies- both public and private- from laying anyone off. But many Venezuelans survive on hand-to-mouth jobs and aren't protected- making it impossible to maintain their incomes.