Peach Tree Times

Georgia is taking unusual measures to get residents back to work by putting a halt to unemployment benefits for those affected by COVID-19, and at least one other state is taking similar steps.

According to WTOC, the Georgia Department of Labor will alter its unemployment benefit guidelines while also planning to roll back previous benefits that were provided during extensions amid the statewide COVID-19 shutdown. Although Georgia is ready to hire more than 230,000 workers on employgeorgia.com as the state reopens, some people prefer not to return to work while getting unemployment benefits. 

“Right now is the time to be looking," Labor Commissioner Mark Butler told WTOC. "The job market is as hot as it’s ever been. We’re hearing basically cries for help from small businesses across the state. Some of these businesses are in danger of going under.”

Under the new policy, those filing benefit claims will have to make a minimum of three new job search contacts a week. The Labor Department plans to call businesses to make sure Georgians are actually looking for a job. 

Butler said there are as many as 600,000 vacant jobs. 

"We're not seeing a lot of individuals return back to the workforce, which has led to a very large number of vacant job openings,” he told WMAZ. He added that the extra $300 Georgians are receiving in unemployment benefits, bringing their total from $250 to $550 a week, is a large enough incentive to keep them from trying to find a new job.

“Right now we have over 140,000 job listings," he said. "That's not just 140,000 jobs because a lot of these companies, when they list a job, they're not just looking for one person, they're looking for two, five, 10, 20. There are so many employers across the state, obviously also in metro Atlanta, who are being very aggressive about hiring, offering hiring bonuses, a lot better wages that we saw pre-pandemic. So don't wait.” 

In addition, South Carolina will no longer receive federal unemployment benefits starting June 30 in an effort to motivate people to apply for jobs again. 

“This labor shortage is being created in large part by the supplemental unemployment payments that the federal government provides claimants on top of their state unemployment benefits," South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said, according to the state website. "In many instances, these payments are greater than the worker’s previous paychecks. What was intended to be a short-term financial assistance for the vulnerable and displaced during the height of the pandemic has turned into a dangerous federal entitlement, incentivizing and paying workers to stay at home rather than encouraging them to return to the workplace.”

There are nearly 82,000 vacant jobs in South Carolina, according to the state's website.