Work at being gainfully employed
According to the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development data, a total of 363,882 people in Massachusetts were collecting unemployment benefits as of Aug. 14.
That number will take a precipitous drop this week.
Most of those claimants received enhanced $300 weekly benefits supplied by the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic, which expire, appropriately enough, over the Labor Day Weekend.
“The end of federal enhanced unemployment benefits on September 4 means that for 300,000 people across the Commonwealth, payments will stop,” said Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta.
After that, no further federal compensation will be paid, no matter claimants’ unemployment status. That will leave only 60,292 individuals in state unemployment insurance programs collecting benefits.
Gov. Charlie Baker has been pushing the Legislature to use American Rescue Plan Act funds for a $240 million workforce training program to benefit up to 52,000 people over a three-year span.
However, with lawmakers still weighing how to allocate the federal relief money, the administration has taken steps to assist those facing loss of jobless compensation.
Those efforts include weekly emails to all claimants, webinars for jobseekers and employers, new online alerts, training for call center agents to handle questions about benefits, and a statewide virtual job fair, conducted last week.
That free five-day event, part of an expanded effort to connect jobseekers with the more than 200,000 available jobs, featured general industry days and a focus on highneed areas like hospitality, healthcare/human services, technology, and education.
The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported an 85% participation rate for the 17,228 jobseekers who registered for the fair, well above the typical percentage.
The heavily publicized event drew more than 1,690 employers and 20,718 resumes, not counting those sent directly to employers’ own portals.
Many Massachusetts business leaders hope the end of those extra jobless benefits, combines with the state’s recruitment efforts, will help fill the employment gaps left by former workers who’ve been sitting on the sidelines.
That still could be a hard sell for low-paid workers looking to improve their prospects.
“Reopening the bottom part of this economy is hell,” John Drew. chief executive of Action for Boston Community Development, told the Associated Press. The antipoverty agency knows that firsthand; it hasn’t been able to attract enough child-care workers to staff all of its Head Start classrooms.
For workers who’ve used the time and benefits to pursue a new career, Drew said, the mindset seems to be: “Maybe I can do better than going back to that lousy job I had.”
At some point, even those at the lower rung of the economic ladder will have no choice but to re-enter the workforce.
If they took advantage of their work hiatus to study the jobs market, rather than being content to just live on the state’s and federal government’s dime, they’d understand that low-paying positions need only be a transitory step on the way to higher-paid employment.
That comes through diligence in gaining the skills necessary to reach that higher aspiration.
Depending on a person’s age, that’s accomplished through further knowledge, either at the adult-education or community college level.
Oftentimes, those perceived menial jobs provide a means to an end while pursuing a GED or associate’s degree.
For whatever reason, it’s indisputable the nation’s labor force needs an injection of able-bodied workers into the economy.
The nation’s labor force participation rate – the number of workers employed or actively looking for work divided by the total eligible civilian working-age population – sunk to 61.5% this year. In 2007, that number stood at 67%.
That imbalance can’t be sustained if we expect to maintain the standard of living to which we’ve become accustomed.
It’s time for the unemployed to do their job and get back to work.