Need a job amid coronavirus? SC resource offers help in York County region
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of people have filed unemployment claims in the York County region.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has closed businesses and led to people in several industries losing their jobs, The Herald previously reported.
SC Works, a brand of services aimed at helping job seekers, has turned to virtual means to fulfill clients’ needs, said Lynn Hall, project director for SC Works Catawba.
The SC Works Catawba office serves York, Chester and Lancaster counties.
SC Works helps people file for unemployment insurance benefits through the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce and assists clients in finding jobs. SC Works provides free resume building help, workshops and other services.
Due to social distancing guidelines, SC Works closed offices on March 19, Hall said. SC Works employees are helping clients through video conferences, chat rooms and other remote avenues.
“We are operating in unprecedented times and we are all in this together. Even though you cannot come in and sit across from a staff member to get re-employment guidance, we can provide that same guidance via phone, e-mail and virtual meetings,” reads a statement from SC Works. “We have also positioned ourselves and are prepared to be an integral part of rebuilding the workforce system in the Catawba Region.”
SC Works also hosts the state’s largest database of jobs, jobs.scworks.org, according to the organization.
As of April 20, there have been more than 13,200 unemployment insurance claims filed in York, Chester and Lancaster counties that list COVID-19 as the reason, according to SC Works.
Of those, about 77.6% of filers said they were likely to return to their previous place of work, according to SC Works. The remaining cases typically represented temporary employment and small businesses unlikely to survive coronavirus closures.
The South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce updates the number of unemployment insurance claims by county weekly. York, Lancaster and Chester counties had a combined 3,210 claims filed for the week ending on April 25.
York County had 2,010 claims, Lancaster County had 781 and Chester County had 419 claims, according to the department.
South Carolina had a total of 65,159 claims for that week, a decrease of 7,957 initial claims from the week before, according to the department. Claims reflect those by people who live and work in South Carolina.
Since March 15, the agency has paid more than $585 million in unemployment insurance benefits, pandemic assistance for self-employed people and others, and the federal unemployment compensation of $600 a week, a release from the department of employment states.
Need job assistance?
- SC Works services are available at jobs.scworks.org.
- The S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce answers frequently asked questions and has resources at dew.sc.gov.
- COVID-19 resources are available at dew.sc.gov/covid-hub.
- Anyone with unemployment questions can call the DEW TelClaim line at 866-831-1724 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
This story was originally published May 6, 2020 at 2:36 PM.
