(GA Recorder) – Georgia is slashing federal extended unemployment benefits by this weekend, threatening to stop aid to more than 218,000 Georgians who used the money to weather the pandemic a report from the National Labor Law Project.
On Saturday, Georgia will cease participating in a variety of federal programs to improve government unemployment during the pandemic, including the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which provides benefits to normally exempted independent contractors and gig workers, extended weeks of pandemic emergency compensation, and the weekly pandemic – Federal Unemployment Benefit Compensation with an additional $ 300 for all benefits.
Last month, Labor Commissioner Mark Butler and Governor Brian Kemp announced plans to stop participating in the programs as they provide an incentive for Georgians to stay on the couch rather than find a job.
The workers get the message, said Butler.
“We have seen the number of claims filed this week has fallen by nearly 2,000 and we expect that number will continue to fall when Georgians return to work,” he said in a statement Thursday. “After 66 weeks of pandemic benefits and the release of over $ 22.5 billion, we look forward to realigning our organization for reemployment and helping applicants find a career path that provides the stability and support they need to provide for their families. ”
The changes to the unemployment system are likely to push some people back into full-time employment, said Ian Schmutte, associate professor of economics at the University of Georgia. But economists disagree on how strong this effect will be.
“Other factors keep people from working, including the lack of consistent and safe childcare, especially for parents of children who are too young to be vaccinated,” said Schmutte. “Workers may also fear the possibility of a new variant or pandemic surge that could put them back out of work, so they look for jobs that are not prone to a pandemic shutdown.”
Lauren Crace and Marcellus Rowe protested outside the Georgia Department of Labor headquarters in Atlanta Thursday over the end of extended unemployment benefits in the state. Ross Williams / Georgia recorder
That is the case with Lauren Crace, an organizer of a small protest outside the Labor Department headquarters in Atlanta on Thursday. She worked in the flooring industry before being fired in the pandemic last March. Crace has a young child and helps care for her mother-in-law, whose immune system has been weakened from cancer treatments. She said she applied to hundreds of jobs but anything she found would either make her uncomfortable looking after her mother-in-law or pay significantly less than she did before the pandemic.
“The jobs I find are $ 20,000 less than what I did before, so if I was still paying for childcare, I wouldn’t be doing it justice. It would make it difficult to pay my bills, live and eat and function, ”she said.
The $ 300 payments delivered enough to keep her roof over her head and gasoline in the tank while she fills out applications, she said.
“This is the only thing that kept my household afloat during that time, although significantly less than what I made before the pandemic, it allows me to keep my house and cars,” she said. “Without these things I can’t look for a job.”
The application for unemployment will also change after Saturday, as the job search requirements will be mandatory again.
Georgians who claim benefits must register with EmployGeorgia, the state reemployment system. They will be asked to provide their Social Security number, create a searchable résumé or upload a searchable résumé to the site, and provide three job search contacts for each week that payments are requested.
The bosses hope that these restored demands, along with the end of state benefits, will bring reluctant workers back into the workforce. Employers in the leisure and hospitality sector of the economy reported particular difficulties hiring workers to keep Georgia’s restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues running.
But even with the changes, it could take longer to hire staff than employers would like, Schmutte said.
“The reality is that it only takes time for workers and companies to find good, stable employment relationships as not every worker is suitable for every job,” he said. “My recommendation is that employers find ways to make their jobs more attractive to employees. This may include increasing wages, but they could also find ways to be flexible, and most importantly, patient with workers in need of childcare – getting everyone back to work is like taking seats on a bus. It takes some time. “
Some economists fear that drawing on the additional unemployment benefits could lead to a short-term reduction in consumer spending, which could create a stumbling block on the path to full employment, he added. Higher unemployment benefits were also credited with an increase in state revenue last year as Georgia lawmakers prepared for a budget crisis.
Many workers say they just don’t want to go back to jobs where they get low wages, no benefits, insecure schedules, and no respect from managers or customers.
Claudia Andrade, another organizer of the protest, said the experience of weathering the pandemic convinced her to go back to school and work towards a more fulfilling career.
“There’s this misconception that the unemployed don’t want to work, and that’s wrong,” she said. “The problem is, people don’t want to go back to their shitty jobs that paid the minimum wage. You don’t have to have one or two jobs, sometimes three. It’s the culture of the hustle and bustle, and that’s because your job no longer pays you for bare minimums. There’s this idea that you have to grind, you have to hurry to get it done, but that’s because the jobs don’t currently pay a living wage. You have to find that somewhere else. “
Although the $ 300 payments are due to expire soon, some unemployed Georgians say they have not yet received any of the money that is due to them.
Financial analyst Stephane Bessy showed up at Labor Department headquarters Thursday unaware that there was a protest. Bessy filed a lawsuit in February after being fired in January, but received no response over the phone or email. He decided to come by in person, but the Labor Department buildings are closed to the public. A security guard gave him a list of numbers to call.
“I’ve been managing my savings since January when I was laid off, and thank God I’m an investor too,” he said. “But still I paid for unemployment and I’m supposed to get something from it, and I got nothing at all. And it’s the first time I’ve applied for a job in the United States. I have never done that. When I work in between, I just live on my savings until I find another job, but this time I needed unemployment and I’ve been paying into this thing since I’ve been working, so I don’t understand. “
The employment office stands in front of you legal action alleged it broke the law by not providing enough services to people who requested benefits in a timely manner.
Last week, 20,698 Georgians filed their first jobless claims, 1,826 fewer than the previous week. That’s a big drop from April 2020, though more than 290,000 Georgians have filed first lawsuits in the first full week of the month.
Georgia’s unemployment rate was 4.1% in May, up from 4.3% in April and below the national unemployment rate of 5.8%.
The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that it has processed more than 4.9 million regular unemployment insurance claims since March 21, 2020, more than the combined 10 years prior to the pandemic. The state has paid over $ 22.5 billion in state and federal benefits over the past 66 weeks.
