(Des Moines) The COVID-19 pandemic has cost thousands of Iowans their jobs. Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend appearing at the Governor’s Press Conference on Wednesday addressed the staggering number of claims for unemployment benefits.
Townsend says last week’s initial claims totaled a little over $10.6 million. She says the majority of the claims were paid within seven-to-ten days of the initial filing. The most COVID-19 related claims in this time frame include; 13,000 claims from the accommodation and food services industry, almost 5,000 claims came from laid-off healthcare and social assistants working in private health care facilities, hourly education service workers, 2,600 claims, other professional services totaled almost 2,000 claims, and retail almost 1,700.
“Iowa workforce development is receiving tens of thousands of calls and 250 staff members are answering those calls every day,” stated Townsend. “We’ve hired additional temporary staff to assist with the phones, and they will be trained in the next few days to be on the phone starting Monday.
“We know they’ll be long waits from the results and surge we’ve experienced in claims and we ask everyone to be patient and to show us grace,” stated Townsend. “We’re here to help, it just may take us a little bit longer to get to you, but we will get to you and we will help.”
Townsend says the Iowa Workforce Development website is an excellent source to find questions frequently answered, including this week’s additional claims.
