States are again requiring a job search to keep unemployment benefits 

Millions are still out of work

Connecting the jobless to new employment

Since unemployment benefits are administered by states, officials in each state can determine whether job searches should resume or remain suspended based on economic and public health conditions, said Oren Cass, executive director of American Compass, a conservative think tank.

“This isn’t last April, where the idea of saying, ‘Why don’t you have a job?’ would have been ridiculous,” Cass said.

For now, up to two out of three weekly work search contacts may be satisfied through taking skills courses, attending career fairs or engaging in other activities offered by an NCWorks Career Center or a partner group. The state’s unemployment rate was 5.7% in February.

“More jobs are being created as we begin to emerge from the pandemic, and people who are out of work need help getting them. Unemployment payments have been critical for families and we want them to have jobs before the payments end,” Cooper said.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, has reinstated pre-pandemic work search requirements for all jobless residents receiving benefits starting April 25, unless they are returning to full-time work with employers within 16 weeks of the dates they filed for benefits or are active members of unions that refer members to jobs. The unemployment rate there is 3.3%.

Certain laid-off Nevada residents will have to start searching for employment on May 1, though the state has one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates, at 8.3%.

And many jobless in South Carolina, where the unemployment rate is 5.2%, will have to complete two weekly job searches in an online portal to maintain their eligibility starting April 18.

“Over the past several months, we have communicated on a regular basis with unemployment claimants about job openings and the benefits of a job and medical coverage over unemployment. Now, we see that we will have to do more,” said Dan Ellzey, executive director of the state Department of Employment and Workforce, noting that South Carolina has 125,000 residents drawing benefits and 87,000 open positions.

However, state unemployment agencies remain overburdened and understaffed, said Alexa Tapia, unemployment insurance campaign coordinator for the National Employment Law Project. It can still take weeks for laid-off residents to have their initial applications approved.

She and other advocates fear that states can’t handle adding a new requirement at this time.

“This will put more strain on already-strained agencies,” Tapia said.

What it means to people on benefits

Chalyce, the mother of a preschooler who lives in Belton, South Carolina, agrees that the jobless should search for work — but she’s concerned that her efforts may not be recorded properly in the state portal, which she said is not easy to navigate, especially with just a cell phone. She can’t afford to miss a week of benefits, which she uses for necessities, including gas to look for employment.

“It may not work when I need it to work,” Chalyce said of the portal. “That’s money we rely on to search for work.”

Chalyce, who asked that her last name not be used so it doesn’t hinder her employment prospects, used her latest stimulus funds to buy a computer to make it easier for her to look for work. She lost her job at a fabric weaving factory last summer but hasn’t gotten further than a handful of interviews.

While the state portal has some good job listings, she said, many others are very far away from her home, pay less than she used to make or were posted long ago. And she can’t take night shifts since she has no one to watch her young daughter.

Reinstating work search requirements will result in many jobless South Carolinians losing benefits, said Berkowitz, noting that most people who can work do. The state agency already has trouble handling claims and answering applicants’ queries.

“Why would they flip on something new, when they can’t even handle this ongoing problem?” she said. “Their system can’t handle it.”

South Carolina’s Department of Employment and Workforce did not return a request seeking comment.

For others who are waiting to be called back to their jobs, the work search requirement may not prove helpful either for them or for employers who need people eager to work long term.

Tim Liss, a furloughed bartender in Las Vegas, expects to return to the job he loves in coming months and doesn’t want to be forced to apply for positions that he would be in for only a short time. Plus, he’s worried he could take an opportunity away from someone who really needs the job to support themselves and their family.

“I’m sitting on my computer, filling out applications for positions that I don’t intend to take,” he said. “I’m not just wasting my time, but I’m wasting employers’ time.”