Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler speaks at a public policy class at Georgia State University in this March 2020 photo. | Facebook-Georgia Department of Labor
Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler speaks at a public policy class at Georgia State University in this March 2020 photo. | Facebook-Georgia Department of Labor
Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler has announced that the job search requirement will be reinstated "in the coming months" in an effort to assist businesses in finding employees, according to a news release.
Butler also stated that he intends to shift his department's focus from providing benefits to encouraging employees to seek new employment through job search assistance, career counseling and skills testing.
"I hear every day from employers who have been forced to reduce business hours, refuse large deliveries and turn down economic opportunities due to the simple fact that they did not have the staff to support them," Butler said in the release.
The leisure and hospitality sector lost 223,000 jobs from February-April 2020, according to the most recent industry employment numbers.
Since then 144,000 jobs have been reclaimed, representing a 65% increase. However, more than 40,000 job openings in the leisure and hospitality sector have been posted so far this year, reflecting the critical need for candidates and the need to re-implement jobs.
Additionally, a recent University of Chicago study found that reducing the number of people receiving unemployment benefits could account for up to 75% of the rise in job growth as a result of the reforms.
"We are hearing from employers that are struggling to meet demand right now due to the lack of applicants for open positions," Butler said in the news release "Our mission is to not only bridge the pay gap for those who are temporarily unemployed, but to also provide re-employment support for those who are looking to re-enter the workforce filling the critical vacancies we are seeing in almost every industry right now."
Unemployment benefits recipients in Georgia were previously required to make three job search contacts each week, which included registering online with EmployGeorgia.com, applying for jobs, interviewing for jobs, registering with employment agencies, or doing work-related networking.
However, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, Georgia, like most other states, suspended work search standards in order to reduce exposure to the pandemic and because job opportunities decreased.
EmployGeorgia.com currently has more than 250,000 active job listings available.
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