Coronavirus Layoff Surge Overwhelms Unemployment Offices
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/business/coronavirus-unemployment-states.html
The best place to get a job right now might be the unemployment office.
In Washington State, where the coronavirus outbreak found its first foothold in the United States, officials are trying to fill multiple positions processing jobless claims.
LIVE UPDATESFollow our live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak worldwide.
"Due to the temporary closure of some businesses here in Washington State we are anticipating the need for additional staffing," according to the job posting, which promises interviews next week.
It's only the start of what will be a hiring boom by these government offices, which have been running on skeleton crews after years of historically low unemployment. Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Nebraska have also posted openings. Texas said it was trying to add people, too.
Video
TRANSCRIPT
0:00/1:43
Scenes From U.S. Cities During Coronavirus Pandemic
Officials have urged people to stay at home to counter the coronavirus outbreak. This is how cities across the country look as the streets empty out.
I would just say enjoy your home. Stay. I would just say, right now. We have to get this problem fixed. Welcome to Miami!
00:00
1:42
1:42Scenes From U.S. Cities During Coronavirus Pandemic
Officials have urged people to stay at home to counter the coronavirus outbreak. This is how cities across the country look as the streets empty out.CreditCredit...Carlo Allegri/Reuters
With the coronavirus pandemic triggering layoffs in industries from restaurants to retail — the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday that claims for jobless benefits surged 33 percent last week — states are about to be inundated. And their unemployment offices, long hindered by lumbering technology and bare-bones staffing, are already groaning under the weight.
From New Jersey to Texas to Oregon, the newly jobless have tried to file claims, only to run into glitchy websites and clogged phone lines.
Ryan Connolly was laid off by video chat on Tuesday from his job on a software development project for RDK Truck Sales & Service in Tampa, Fla. Within a few hours, he was on the county website trying to figure out unemployment benefits but couldn't get past the first link. Every time he clicked, the loading wheel would circle interminably.
"My heart just dropped, and I realized that I'm definitely not the only one scrambling here," he said.
It was obvious the site was overwhelmed by the volume, said Mr. Connolly, who is worried about his wife and two young daughters. They were on his health insurance.
"As soon as I saw that, I realized that it was just going to be a nightmare," he said.
He kept trying on Tuesday. It didn't get better. "I've given up," he said Wednesday.
Help is on the way. A stimulus bill that President Trump signed into law on Wednesday provides $1 billion in emergency grants to states for unemployment insurance, and fully half could be immediately used to strengthen staffing, technology and other administrative costs.
The need is urgent. In Colorado, the number of unemployment benefit claims went from 400 on March 9 to 3,900 on Monday and then 10,000 on Wednesday. In Connecticut, there were 2,500 claims last week, but more than 40,000 from Friday evening until Wednesday evening. The number of requests in Ohio jumped to 78,000 this week from 6,500 two weeks ago.
Maryland said that its website and call centers were experiencing "an unprecedented volume" of requests. The state's division of unemployment insurance said it was extending its call center hours, working to increase its network's bandwidth and asking claimants and employers to email.
New York's online application system crashed as it tried to accommodate a spike in volume that resembled the surge after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. By noon on Tuesday, the state labor department had received more than 21,000 calls, compared with 2,000 a week earlier. Visits to its website more than doubled. The department is now extending its hours and staggering filing times alphabetically by last name.
Delta Vasquez, 22, spent several hours trying to slog through Oregon's unemployment claims portal on Monday night after she was laid off from her hosting position at Bamboo Sushi in Portland. She and her co-workers got the news by email after the state moved to restrict bars and restaurants to takeout and delivery.
Ms. Vasquez tried calling the unemployment office instead, but the line rang and eventually disconnected without sending her to voice mail. She tried online again, but the site was confusing — it has operating hours, and stops accepting new claims at 10 p.m. on weekdays.
Ms. Vasquez restarted the online claims process twice before managing to fill out the necessary forms. "If you're not working, you can't save money," she said. "The only resource is unemployment insurance."
Even when unemployment was stable and low, state employment offices were "threadbare," said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow with the Century Foundation, a public policy research group.
State unemployment insurance programs rely on federal grants to pay for the administration of benefits, but those costs have been cut by 30 percent over the past two decades, he said.
Part of the reason for low staffing: Unemployment office head counts are pegged to the unemployment rate, which had reached historic lows before the pandemic hit.
Even in normal times, unemployment offices struggled with busy signals and website problems, said Julia Simon-Mishel, a supervising attorney in the unemployment compensation unit at Philadelphia Legal Assistance. "So we expect there to be issues with the website and phone lines across the country now."
Further complicating matters are the outdated systems most offices use. Pennsylvania is partway through a technology overhaul, but "a lot of states are still operating on their old mainframe computer systems that are most likely not set up for remote access," Ms. Simon-Mishel said.
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Continue reading the main story
At the same time, some states are undertaking emergency measures to expand and speed up workers' access to benefits. Montana officials said that people forced by employers to stay home, or who are quarantined or caring for a family member with coronavirus, can qualify for benefits. Wisconsin, where nearly half of job center locations are closed because of the outbreak, loosened rules that require claimants to actively search for work. Arkansas, California, Virginia and other states have waived the waiting period before workers can receive aid.
But that still requires applicants to get through the front door.
Desperate, many laid-off employees began requesting donations and posting links to their GoFundMe, Venmo and Cash accounts. The website for one charity group was overrun with people hoping to apply for its bartender emergency assistance program.
Eilís Godfrey, 27, learned on Sunday night that the restaurant where she worked as a server in Los Angeles was closing its doors. She and her colleagues gathered in a back room, usually reserved for private parties, to watch the city's mayor, Eric Garcetti, who ordered the closing of many businesses and said dine-in service at restaurants must stop. The spin studio where she worked the front desk also closed that night.
On Monday, Ms. Godfrey tried to apply for unemployment benefits, but realized that she needed to gather her pay stubs, tax return and other information. On Tuesday, she could no longer get access to California's unemployment benefits site, and couldn't get through on the phone, either.
So she went back to her computer, where, she said, she spent hours "just refreshing the page."
Patricia Cohen contributed reporting.
Tiffany Hsu is a media reporter for the business desk, focusing on advertising and marketing. Previously, she covered breaking business news. Before joining The Times, she wrote about the California economy for The Los Angeles Times. @tiffkhsu
Tara Siegel Bernard covers personal finance. Before joining The Times in 2008, she was deputy managing editor at FiLife, a personal finance website, and an editor at CNBC. She also worked at Dow Jones and contributed regularly to The Wall Street Journal. @tarasbernard
A version of this article appears in print on March 20, 2020, Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Layoff Surge Overwhelms Claims Staffs. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe
-- via my feedly newsfeed
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/business/coronavirus-unemployment-states.html
The best place to get a job right now might be the unemployment office.
In Washington State, where the coronavirus outbreak found its first foothold in the United States, officials are trying to fill multiple positions processing jobless claims.
LIVE UPDATESFollow our live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak worldwide.
"Due to the temporary closure of some businesses here in Washington State we are anticipating the need for additional staffing," according to the job posting, which promises interviews next week.
It's only the start of what will be a hiring boom by these government offices, which have been running on skeleton crews after years of historically low unemployment. Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Nebraska have also posted openings. Texas said it was trying to add people, too.
Video
TRANSCRIPT
0:00/1:43
Scenes From U.S. Cities During Coronavirus Pandemic
Officials have urged people to stay at home to counter the coronavirus outbreak. This is how cities across the country look as the streets empty out.
I would just say enjoy your home. Stay. I would just say, right now. We have to get this problem fixed. Welcome to Miami!
00:00
1:42
1:42Scenes From U.S. Cities During Coronavirus Pandemic
Officials have urged people to stay at home to counter the coronavirus outbreak. This is how cities across the country look as the streets empty out.CreditCredit...Carlo Allegri/Reuters
With the coronavirus pandemic triggering layoffs in industries from restaurants to retail — the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday that claims for jobless benefits surged 33 percent last week — states are about to be inundated. And their unemployment offices, long hindered by lumbering technology and bare-bones staffing, are already groaning under the weight.
From New Jersey to Texas to Oregon, the newly jobless have tried to file claims, only to run into glitchy websites and clogged phone lines.
Ryan Connolly was laid off by video chat on Tuesday from his job on a software development project for RDK Truck Sales & Service in Tampa, Fla. Within a few hours, he was on the county website trying to figure out unemployment benefits but couldn't get past the first link. Every time he clicked, the loading wheel would circle interminably.
"My heart just dropped, and I realized that I'm definitely not the only one scrambling here," he said.
It was obvious the site was overwhelmed by the volume, said Mr. Connolly, who is worried about his wife and two young daughters. They were on his health insurance.
"As soon as I saw that, I realized that it was just going to be a nightmare," he said.
He kept trying on Tuesday. It didn't get better. "I've given up," he said Wednesday.
Help is on the way. A stimulus bill that President Trump signed into law on Wednesday provides $1 billion in emergency grants to states for unemployment insurance, and fully half could be immediately used to strengthen staffing, technology and other administrative costs.
The need is urgent. In Colorado, the number of unemployment benefit claims went from 400 on March 9 to 3,900 on Monday and then 10,000 on Wednesday. In Connecticut, there were 2,500 claims last week, but more than 40,000 from Friday evening until Wednesday evening. The number of requests in Ohio jumped to 78,000 this week from 6,500 two weeks ago.
Maryland said that its website and call centers were experiencing "an unprecedented volume" of requests. The state's division of unemployment insurance said it was extending its call center hours, working to increase its network's bandwidth and asking claimants and employers to email.
New York's online application system crashed as it tried to accommodate a spike in volume that resembled the surge after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. By noon on Tuesday, the state labor department had received more than 21,000 calls, compared with 2,000 a week earlier. Visits to its website more than doubled. The department is now extending its hours and staggering filing times alphabetically by last name.
Delta Vasquez, 22, spent several hours trying to slog through Oregon's unemployment claims portal on Monday night after she was laid off from her hosting position at Bamboo Sushi in Portland. She and her co-workers got the news by email after the state moved to restrict bars and restaurants to takeout and delivery.
Ms. Vasquez tried calling the unemployment office instead, but the line rang and eventually disconnected without sending her to voice mail. She tried online again, but the site was confusing — it has operating hours, and stops accepting new claims at 10 p.m. on weekdays.
Ms. Vasquez restarted the online claims process twice before managing to fill out the necessary forms. "If you're not working, you can't save money," she said. "The only resource is unemployment insurance."
Even when unemployment was stable and low, state employment offices were "threadbare," said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow with the Century Foundation, a public policy research group.
State unemployment insurance programs rely on federal grants to pay for the administration of benefits, but those costs have been cut by 30 percent over the past two decades, he said.
Part of the reason for low staffing: Unemployment office head counts are pegged to the unemployment rate, which had reached historic lows before the pandemic hit.
Even in normal times, unemployment offices struggled with busy signals and website problems, said Julia Simon-Mishel, a supervising attorney in the unemployment compensation unit at Philadelphia Legal Assistance. "So we expect there to be issues with the website and phone lines across the country now."
Further complicating matters are the outdated systems most offices use. Pennsylvania is partway through a technology overhaul, but "a lot of states are still operating on their old mainframe computer systems that are most likely not set up for remote access," Ms. Simon-Mishel said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Continue reading the main story
At the same time, some states are undertaking emergency measures to expand and speed up workers' access to benefits. Montana officials said that people forced by employers to stay home, or who are quarantined or caring for a family member with coronavirus, can qualify for benefits. Wisconsin, where nearly half of job center locations are closed because of the outbreak, loosened rules that require claimants to actively search for work. Arkansas, California, Virginia and other states have waived the waiting period before workers can receive aid.
But that still requires applicants to get through the front door.
Desperate, many laid-off employees began requesting donations and posting links to their GoFundMe, Venmo and Cash accounts. The website for one charity group was overrun with people hoping to apply for its bartender emergency assistance program.
Eilís Godfrey, 27, learned on Sunday night that the restaurant where she worked as a server in Los Angeles was closing its doors. She and her colleagues gathered in a back room, usually reserved for private parties, to watch the city's mayor, Eric Garcetti, who ordered the closing of many businesses and said dine-in service at restaurants must stop. The spin studio where she worked the front desk also closed that night.
On Monday, Ms. Godfrey tried to apply for unemployment benefits, but realized that she needed to gather her pay stubs, tax return and other information. On Tuesday, she could no longer get access to California's unemployment benefits site, and couldn't get through on the phone, either.
So she went back to her computer, where, she said, she spent hours "just refreshing the page."
Patricia Cohen contributed reporting.
Tiffany Hsu is a media reporter for the business desk, focusing on advertising and marketing. Previously, she covered breaking business news. Before joining The Times, she wrote about the California economy for The Los Angeles Times. @tiffkhsu
Tara Siegel Bernard covers personal finance. Before joining The Times in 2008, she was deputy managing editor at FiLife, a personal finance website, and an editor at CNBC. She also worked at Dow Jones and contributed regularly to The Wall Street Journal. @tarasbernard
A version of this article appears in print on March 20, 2020, Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Layoff Surge Overwhelms Claims Staffs. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe
-- via my feedly newsfeed
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