Workforce
State and local governments face a tight labor market and a competitive disadvantage with the private sector. But salaries aren’t the only issue, with cities, counties and states all grappling with training, retention, remote work and increased union activity.
The right policies can help more regions take advantage of AI for economic growth and prepare against some of its harms, according to a new report.
As a way to keep money in the state’s economy, lawmakers have introduced several proposals that would allow those who mistakenly received unemployment benefit payments to keep the money, instead of returning it.
Fraud scammers from all over the world began targeting the states’ mostly antiquated employment insurance systems, moving swiftly to collect billions of dollars and using the money to fund other illegal activities.
Hackers continue to use the coronavirus pandemic as a multi-billion dollar opportunity, flooding the state with thousands of false claims. Many fraud victims are unable to receive any helpful response from the state.
The coronavirus has altered Oklahoma’s businesses permanently. While many were forced to close, some simply closed their buildings and shifted online. Others have increased their staff as demand changes.
The agency has been relying on self-reporting to determine the number of COVID cases that have been contracted in the workplace, resulting in severe undercounts that undermine the severity of workplace risk.
A survey of state and local government employees finds that the prolonged stresses of the pandemic are taking a toll. One in three have considered changing jobs.
More than $12.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program grants went to 31 businesses that were cited by the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Division for violating the state’s coronavirus safety guidelines.
The state’s Employment Development Department is still flooded with unprocessed benefits claims, millions of dollars worth of fraudulent applications and decades-old problems that continue to slow the process.
Last year, 1,226 Erie County employees received $5.9 million in overtime related to the coronavirus pandemic. Of those employees, 54 were political appointees who received $1.3 million of the total.
63 percent of tech companies in San Francisco plan on reducing their office space even after the pandemic. A majority of those surveyed said the city’s regulations and taxes were influencing the decision.
California’s state auditor claims the Employment Development Department’s poor planning left workers unprepared for the influx of pandemic-related claims and had issues that were ignored for nearly a decade.
State officials worry possible labor shortages could occur if too many dock workers get sick, which would create a severe slowdown of the multibillion-dollar industry, and are urging workers to get vaccinated.
Due to its size and generosity, the state’s unemployment agency has been inundated with fraudulent COVID-19 benefits claims, which amount to $750 million in false filings each week. Some have come from as far as Russia.
The city’s office market in 2020 reached its lowest levels since 1990 as the pandemic forced companies to send workers home and some, like Twitter and Dropbox, downsized their office footprint.
The shipment of goods to suppliers has become technologically sophisticated. Delays in getting out the COVID-19 vaccine to people show that the breakdowns come down to something more basic.
A ruling by the Labor Department has made it easier for businesses to classify their gig workers as independent contractors, which don’t require standard employee protections such as minimum wage and benefits.
As companies shift to remote work to adhere to the pandemic, geographic constraints for workers are disappearing. Chattanooga, Tenn., hopes to capitalize on this shift.
To maintain productivity and safety, some jobs are installing robot coworkers. Labor unions worry that the robots will continue to occupy jobs after the pandemic ends while others say they will free up workers for other positions.
Without Congressional and statewide extensions to worker benefit programs, millions of workers could be left with just three days of paid sick leave and eight weeks of paid family leave per year.
At least nine states are using short-term training programs to help combat the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But some experts want to fund community colleges to improve the payoff.
Three workers in San Francisco, Calif., have filed a class-action lawsuit against three city agencies, alleging they were paid less, denied promotions and subjected to harassment all due to their race.
Many public leaders long believed that the people’s business could not be done from outside the walls of government buildings, but COVID-19 showed government can function from anywhere — quickly.
Work from home was at first a temporary pandemic solution, but as public and private organizations alike make remote work permanent, they’ll need to make adjustments to more than just where staff are located.
A new survey shows that public-sector employees are adapting to remote work and that many like it. It also reveals concerns that state and local government employers need to keep in mind.
A spike in unemployment claims appears to have been caused by jobless workers switching between programs and criminals trying to defraud the system. In the meantime, the state has paused payment on more than 300,000 claims.
There have been many success stories about government rapidly and effectively responding to the needs of the pandemic with technology. A new survey sheds some light on how the CARES Act helped make that happen.
Of the state’s 35 largest workplace outbreaks, safety officials received warnings before 23 occurred and only inspected two of them. OSHA has received 11,000 complaints about COVID safety risks and violations.
State Auditor Pat McCarthy has criticized the employment department director for imposing constraints on the audit investigating the agency’s slow response to the state’s multimillion-dollar loss to job benefit fraud.
The incoming administration’s ambitious goals of the nation becoming 100 percent clean energy and net-zero by 2050 could produce more clean energy jobs for rural Michiganders, especially for Detroit’s automobile market.
California’s employment agency faces hundreds of millions of dollars in unemployment benefit claims fraud as scammers and inmates have filed for and collected jobless pay.
