Unemployed Hawaiian residents must find work to continue receiving unemployment benefits

HONOLULU (KHON2) – Would you like to receive unemployment benefit? You have to prove one more time that you are looking for a job.

Governor David Ige announced on Thursday that he would reintroduce job hunting from May 30th. Click here For more information.

This is because Hawaii‘s unemployment rate remains high at 8.5% in April, compared to 6.1% nationwide.

Initial jobless claims also rose by 9% last month compared to the previous month. Some companies wonder if the move will make a significant difference.

Big and small businesses are Difficulty finding workforce. The owners expect it to get even busier, so the next few months will be critical.

Given that the unemployed have to look for at least three jobs a week, employers are wondering whether the state can actually enforce this.

“Tracking everyone down on a weekly basis, probably not. So I think it’s more of a scare tactic. This will work for some, but I don’t expect it to have much of an impact, ”said Monty Pereira, general manager at Watanabe Floral.

The state estimates that 106,000 will have to look for jobs. Officials investigate and verify the workers are searching, but only randomly select the cases.

“The unemployment insurance investigator will go to the contacts made by the applicant and actually verify those contacts,” said Anne Perreira-Eustaquio, director of the State Ministry of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Part of the problem is that because of the extra $ 300 a week from the federal government, some workers make more money if they remain unemployed. Other states have chosen not to, but the governor says too many families here are still struggling.

“We believe, as of this writing, that continuing to maintain the $ 300 performance will benefit the economy as a whole and its ability to pay rent,” said Ige.

Companies say there should also be an incentive to get people to work.

“I really think that a little more responsibility will be of great help to us and will only motivate people to get back into the workplace,” said Jimmy Chan, owner of the Hawaiian Chip Company.

Companies want to recover from the pandemic and would need more employees sooner than later.

“It’s a struggle because right now you have the opportunity to do more business than you can do, which is sad because we can’t buy as much from local sources as we’d like,” said Pereira.

“It was an impossible task. I think we probably hired 10 people this year alone. I think only one has gotten stuck so far, ”said Chan.

The federal benefits are due to expire in September.