The pandemic is not over, but it’s undeniably reached a milepost approaching the end. And nothing communicates that more plainly than the decision by Gov. David Ige to reinstitute a job-seeking requirement for those receiving unemployment benefits.
It was the right choice, bolstered by similar actions being taken by states nationwide. But it’s also one supported by the public-health reality on the ground.
Going by the book, members of the workforce who have lost their jobs and are collecting the weekly unemployment insurance (UI) payments need to submit regular proofs of trying to find work.
This entails claimants making at least three job-search contacts each week, which can be fulfilled by registering for work on the state’s HireNet Hawai‘i portal, applying for jobs by submitting a resume or attending a job fair.
The principal reason for waiving the requirement during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic was clear: The risk of infection was high, especially in front-line jobs, in the service industry and elsewhere, that were still available.
That no longer applies, given the vastly improved metrics for COVID-19 community spread, and especially given that the community has ready access to a protective vaccine. The UI benefits were only meant to last so long — indeed, for the earliest pandemic claimants faced with persistent unemployment, they are running out already.
And there are clear signs, nationally and locally, that the monetary benefits can be a disincentive to take a job, particularly with the addition of the so-called “plus-up” federal supplement added to the standard state payment.
That is calendared to lapse at the end of August, but in the meantime the total benefit can exceed the pay a worker would get on the job and may be weighing against a return to work.
Some states are ending the plus-up payments to counter this trend. That’s an option under consideration in Hawaii, but it would be counterintuitive to terminate the program ahead of schedule here.
It’s well-established in studies done by Aloha United Way and others that fully one-third of island households were struggling to make ends meet, even before COVID-19 struck.
Given Hawaii’s high cost of living, it makes more sense to maintain the plus-up, keep those families more secure and retain those federal dollars in the local economy.
Even so, the hope is that the reinstated requirement will get more job-hunters off the couch. The most recent figures from the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DLIR) earlier in May tallied 82 employers that had reported a total of 90 employees failing to accept work offered to them.
Much of the available work is in the service industry. Specific figures are lacking, but anecdotal reports to the Hawaii Restaurant Association, as an example, indicate some businesses are having a hard time filling slots.
On Wednesday, DLIR Director Anne Perreira-Eustaquio appeared on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” webcast to field an outpouring of questions on the decision, and on the backlog of UI claims requiring adjudication.
There is persistent frustration from those who have been unable to collect benefits for a variety of reasons, the flood of pandemic claims adding even more delay to the basic investigations required for problem cases.
It’s distressing that Perreira-Eustaquio had no timetable for reopening the Labor Department office. Other government agencies have resumed face-to-face service, and it’s past time for DLIR to do the same.
Employers with jobs going wanting should consider what incentives they might add, whether a modest pay increase or a one-time bonus up-front might help them compete for workers.
That said, the onus for solving the unemployment problem has plainly shifted to the worker’s shoulders. Many of those thrown into joblessness by the pandemic are there for the first time in years.
Even for those who have recent experience, the market is changing in ways that are not yet clear. They may not have realistic expectations of what a late-pandemic job search is likely to yield.
The reinstated requirement is to pursue “suitable work,” Perreira-Eustaquio said, so a prospective employee should certainly start by looking for a post equivalent in pay and skills to the one they lost.
But at some point, they would be wise to gauge whether that job is coming back. A change in career direction through retraining might be a more productive plan.
Of course, there are immediate hurdles. Families who were managing kids taking online classes during the school year, as well as those without a plan in place for summer child care, doubtlessly see such issues impeding their return to normal work schedules.
But for the long term, prolonging unemployment erects barriers that will be far more daunting, so it’s important to get started right away. The job search can be a long road — but one that leads in the most promising direction.
