In late March of this year, in response to the negative economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, otherwise known as the CARES Act. This $2-trillion economic aid package also included something called the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program to help those who were laid off, furloughed, or outright let go because of the pandemic. In addition to allowing more people to claim unemployment benefits, the PAU also provided those on unemployment with an additional payment of up to $600 a week. While this additional money has helped many get through this economic disaster, it has also caused an unintended problem for employers. When the $600 is added to the unemployment benefits, many people were actually bringing home more money than they were when they were working. As a result, many are holding off on trying to return to the workforce, leaving many companies in a tough spot. As these companies are working towards reopening and trying to get back open and back to work, they are finding it difficult to get employees to return. In addition, many of those same companies received money through the Paycheck Protection Program, which is a program that is specifically designed to get people back to work. If the employers do not meet certain employment guidelines within a certain time frame, the PPP money they received, turns into a loan that must be repaid, with interest. As a result, these companies are starting to give up on trying to bring back their former employees and are instead starting to recruit new workers to replace those employees that did not want to return right away.
 

Through the Extended Benefits program, regular unemployment benefits have been extended for New Yorkers, however, as it stands now, the PUA program and the extra $600 weekly payments are slated to end in the last week of July, and the US Senate has repeatedly stated that they have no intention of extending it longer. This means that by the end of July, many who received unemployment benefits through the PUA program will no longer be eligible, and the extra $600 for everyone will be gone. Once the PUA program ends, the maximum amount of unemployment a New Yorker can receive will be $504. At that point, it makes much more sense to get back to work. That's precisely why you should not wait until the PUA ends to start looking. As companies reopen, they have quite a few positions to fill to get back up to full staff; however, because so many New Yorkers were either furloughed or let go, there is a lot of competition for those jobs. However, as more and more New Yorkers start losing that extra PUA money, the competition will only Increase. The best advice we can give is... Don't wait too long... start looking now and get back to work. It will help you, your family, your future, and our economy—best of luck in your job search.