About a month into the pandemic, Tyler Mathiesen lost his position at a tech company, his first full-time job out of college. For several months, everything was fine: Payments on his $75,000 in student loans were paused, and the extra $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit helped pay the rest. He even managed to save some money.

But as the summer ended, the added benefit expired and his regular state unemployment benefits were close to running out. He needed a plan, and fast.

His solution: draining all $8,200 he had in his 401(k).

“I needed money to pay for rent and food,” said Mr. Mathiesen, 24, who lives with his girlfriend in St. Paul, Minn. With no clear indication that further relief would be on its way, he said, “I figured this was my only realistic way to get money that I needed.”

Since the pandemic began rippling through the economy in March, more than 2.1 million Americans have pulled money from retirement plans at the five largest 401(k) plan administrators — Fidelity, Empower Retirement, Vanguard, Alight Solutions and Principal. These workers, especially those in hard-hit industries like transportation, manufacturing and health care, have been helped by more flexible withdrawal rules created by the coronavirus relief legislation known as the CARES Act.

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