GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — Fifty Chambers of Commerce from across the state of Wisconsin, including chambers in Green Bay and the Fox Valley, have signed on to a letter urging Governor Tony Evers to end the $300 federal unemployment benefit put in place at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Vice President of Communications Nick Novak says businesses across the state are struggling with a workforce shortage.
“We are literally paying people to sit on the sidelines and not work,” said Novak. “What we should be doing is investing in getting people back to work and incentivizing work.”
The benefits, the chambers argue, are forcing businesses to compete not only with each other, but with the Government.
“The additional $300 from the federal government is serving as a disincentive and it is just exacerbating the work force shortage that we already had here in Wisconsin,” explained Novak.
The state’s workforce struggles aren’t just because of the benefit. Novak says businesses for years have had difficulty attracting and retaining employees. The benefit, he says, just makes it more difficult.
The letter asks the Governor to use money from the American Rescue Plan to incentivize people to return to work.
“We believe that fund could be used to incentivize people to get back into the work force through some type of signing bonus,” said Novak.
Novak says that Idaho, Iowa, Montana, and South Carolina have all ended the unemployment benefit and redirected funds to incentivize people to go back to work.
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