End To Extra $600 Expected To Bring Job Seekers Back

Job seekers should increase as the July 25 cut-off for additional unemployment funding from the CARES Act approaches.

The state will pay out the $600 stipend from the federal government for the final time on July 25. Qualified Staffing Branch Manager Amanda Hill said people may be reluctant to return to work because unemployment benefits are greater than their previous income.

“I just think that the biggest issues that people are going to have is they’re so used to making so much on the unemployment and extra money,” Hill said. “It’s going to be a really hard adjustment for those people that are used to making $800 a week when they normally don’t make that. I think that’s going to be a big adjustment for a lot of people. It’s going to be tough, it’s going to be very tough.”

Hill said now is the best time to apply for a job since so many employers are hiring. After the July 25 end to extended benefits, Hill said there will be an influx of job seekers in the market.

For those who have not worked since the pandemic began, Hill said it will be difficult for people to return to work.

“I think it’ll be an adjustment for everybody, especially the people that have stayed home the whole time,” Hill said. “It’s going to be hard, I think, for a lot of people to get back into the swing of going to work every day. It’s going to be an adjustment for a lot of people, so we’re definitely prepared to help them get back into the swing of things.”

Express Employment Professionals General Manager Tasha Otte said they interview more than 120 people a week. Otte said candidates have not been as eager to follow up for open positions because they do not want to wear masks.

“Surprisingly a lot of our candidates, they just don’t want to do it,” Otte said. “They won’t work eight, ten, twelve hours with a mask on. That has kinda hurt us a little bit with getting people to go to work because there’s a lot of people that are just adamant they will not do that.”

Otte said a lot of employees are afraid to return to work, which is why they continue to collect unemployment. She said she expects an increase in people searching for work when they are ready.

“I feel like they’re going to come back to the work force,” Otte said. “I mean, we need them to come back. We have to keep these companies going and everyone is struggling right now to get people to come to work, or at least return.”