• Home
  • News
  • Fortune 500
  • Tech
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
PoliticsU.S. Politics

These are the workers the U.S. government deems ‘essential’ amid the coronavirus pandemic

By
Terry Collins
Terry Collins
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Terry Collins
Terry Collins
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 20, 2020, 5:23 PM ET

Subscribe to Outbreak, a daily newsletter roundup of stories on the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on global business. It’s free to get it in your inbox.

As more states like California, New York and Ohio are ordering its millions of residents to stay home because of the coronavirus, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has listed which industries and workers are “essential” to fighting the pandemic.

The list of essential employees—which is advisory, not a federal directive—was made as the U.S. has more than 16,000 confirmed cases of the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker on Friday.

“If you work in a critical infrastructure industry, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, such as health care services and pharmaceutical and food supply, you have a special responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule,” President Donald Trump said Monday.

And, according to the DHS Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), there are 14 employment categories that the agency identifies as Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers. These include:

1. Health care and public health workers

Hospital and laboratory personnel, caregivers, mental health workers, doctors, nurses, researchers, pharmacists, dentists, social workers, technicians, as well as funeral home and cemetery workers.

2. Law enforcement, public safety, and first responders

Emergency management personnel, including police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians. The list also includes 911 call center workers and those who oversee emergency service operations.

3. Food and agriculture workers

Food and agriculture workers include those who work in grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants (including delivery drivers), company cafeterias, animal agriculture workers, and the food and beverage industries. Farmers, food processing workers, warehouse workers, and food truck delivery drivers are also on the list.

4. Energy employees

This category includes utilities, telecommunications staffers, natural gas/propane workers, the electricity industry, engineers, cybersecurity/risk management staff, and environmental remediation.

5. Water and wastewater

Employees needed to operate and maintain drinking water and wastewater/drainage infrastructure.

6. Transportation and logistics

This includes mass transit workers, auto repair and maintenance workers, trash collectors, postal and shipping workers, air traffic controllers, air transportation employees, dispatchers, maintenance and repair technicians, warehouse workers, truck stop and rest area workers, and workers who maintain and inspect infrastructure.

7. Public works

Public works employees who operate, inspect and maintain dams, locks, levees, and bridges. This also includes workers who oversee sewer main breaks, traffic signals and buried/underground utilities.

8. Communications and information technology

Technicians, operators, call centers, wireline and wireless providers, cable service providers, satellite operations, and manufacturers and distributors of communications equipment. Workers who support radio, television, and media service, including news reporters, studio, and technicians for news gathering and reporting, are also included in this category, as well as data center operators, HVAC and electrical engineers, security personnel, IT managers, software and hardware engineers, and database administrators.

9. Other community-based government operations and essential functions

Elections personnel, building employees, security staff, trade officials, weather forecasters, customs workers, and educators.

10. Critical manufacturing

Workers necessary for the manufacturing of materials and products needed for medical supply chains, transportation, energy, communications, food and agriculture, chemical manufacturing, nuclear facilities, the operation of dams, water and wastewater treatment, emergency services, and the defense industrial base.

11. Hazardous materials

Workers at nuclear facilities, workers managing medical waste, workers managing waste from pharmaceuticals and medical material production, and workers at laboratories processing test kits.

12. Financial services

Bank employees and other financial/lending institutions, as well as those needed to keep ATM services available to consumers.

13. Chemical workers

Workers supporting the chemical and industrial gas supply chains, including workers at chemical manufacturing plants, workers in laboratories, workers at distribution facilities, workers who transport basic raw chemical materials to the producers of industrial and consumer goods, including hand sanitizers, food and food additives, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and paper products.

14. Defense industrial base

Workers who support the essential services required to meet national security commitments to the federal government and U.S. military. These individuals, include but are not limited to aerospace; mechanical and software engineers, manufacturing/production workers; IT support; security staff; security personnel; intelligence support, aircraft and weapon systems mechanics and maintainers.

Personnel working for companies, and their subcontractors, who perform under contract to the Department of Defense providing materials and services to the Department of Defense, as well as government-owned/contractor-operated and government-owned/government-operated facilities.

More coronavirus coverage from Fortune:

—Why the extraordinary dollar surge spells more trouble for the global economy
—Japan finally admits coronavirus might disrupt Tokyo 2020 Olympics
—Which stores are open—and closed—during the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.?
—What medical experts say about Everlywell’s home coronavirus testing kits
—How to defer your mortgage payment due to coronavirus
—How Emmy season is proceeding, with caution, amid the coronavirus crisis
—Listen to Leadership Next, a Fortune podcast examining the evolving role of CEO
—WATCH: World leaders and health experts on how to stop the spread of COVID-19

Subscribe to Outbreak, a daily newsletter roundup of stories on the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on global business. It’s free to get it in your inbox.

About the Author
By Terry Collins
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Politics

Sabrina Carpenter
LawImmigration
Sabrina Carpenter rips ‘evil and disgusting’ White House use of one of her songs in an ICE raid video montage
By Fatima Hussein and The Associated PressDecember 2, 2025
6 hours ago
Elon Musk, standing with his arms crossed, looks down at Donald Trump sitting at his desk in the Oval Office
EconomyTariffs and trade
Elon Musk says he warned Trump against tariffs, which U.S. manufacturers blame for a turn to more offshoring and diminishing American factory jobs
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 2, 2025
9 hours ago
A student driver gets on a truck as the instructor watches in Calif., Nov. 15, 2021.
LawShipping
Nearly half of U.S. truck-driving schools face closure in crackdown on ‘poorly trained drivers’
By Josh Funk and The Associated PressDecember 2, 2025
11 hours ago
Trump
CommentaryTariffs and trade
The trade war was never going to fix our deficit
By Daniel BunnDecember 2, 2025
11 hours ago
michael dell
Successphilanthropy
Michael and Susan Dell believe their $6.25 billion donation for ‘Trump Accounts’ is the largest single private commitment to U.S. children
By Thalia Beaty and The Associated PressDecember 2, 2025
12 hours ago
Trump
PoliticsWhite House
Trump had MRI on heart and abdomen and it was ‘perfectly normal,’ doctor says
By The Associated PressDecember 2, 2025
12 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
Ford workers told their CEO 'none of the young people want to work here.' So Jim Farley took a page out of the founder's playbook
By Sasha RogelbergNovember 28, 2025
4 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Warren Buffett used to give his family $10,000 each at Christmas—but when he saw how fast they were spending it, he started buying them shares instead
By Eleanor PringleDecember 2, 2025
15 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Forget the four-day workweek, Elon Musk predicts you won't have to work at all in ‘less than 20 years'
By Jessica CoacciDecember 1, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Elon Musk says he warned Trump against tariffs, which U.S. manufacturers blame for a turn to more offshoring and diminishing American factory jobs
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 2, 2025
9 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Innovation
Google CEO Sundar Pichai says we’re just a decade away from a new normal of extraterrestrial data centers
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 1, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
C-Suite
MacKenzie Scott's $19 billion donations have turned philanthropy on its head—why her style of giving actually works
By Sydney LakeDecember 2, 2025
15 hours ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.