Rocky Gill speaking during an event in this Tyler Morning Telegraph file photo. In 25 years owning Express Employment Services in Tyler, they have placed more employees this year than ever, but also have the biggest list of companies looking to fill jobs at the same time.

Rocky Gill, owner of Express Employment Services in Tyler has placed more employees at local businesses the past six months than they have in 25 years. But they also have the biggest list of jobs that need to be filled as well.

On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Labor to let them know Texas will opt out of further federal unemployment compensation related to the COVID-19 pandemic starting June 26.

The first of six supplements is an extra $300 weekly unemployment supplement on top of standard unemployment benefits.

“Absolutely it’s good news. We’ve had so many businesses we can not help. We are doing everything in our power to dig up people for them,” Gill said. “Businesses have a lot to do and need more people than they’ve needed. We hear all the time from people (looking for work) it’s not worth it to go to work. They are not sure they want to give up free money to sit home and kind of be on vacation until that runs out, and that is troubling.”

Gill said he talked to District 1 State Senator Bryan Hughes and District 6 State Rep. Matt Schaefer about the issues.

Hughes told the Tyler Morning Telegraph, “The governor did the right thing,” and Schaefer said, “We have all been communicating this concern to anyone who would listen in Austin.”

Schaefer told the Tyler Morning Telegraph after the announcement, “When the government is paying people not to work, when there are help wanted signs everywhere, it’s horrible. It’s every sector, it’s manufacturing, it’s retail, it’s restaurants. The Biden administration policy has been harmful to the recovery. And there is an inflationary aspect to this as well. When manufacturers can not produce the goods needed to meet demands, that helps to drive inflation which hurts poor people the most.”

Schaefer said he was talking to a representative from Maryland who said there was a new hotel being built in his district but they stopped construction because if it was built, they didn’t have enough staff to open the doors.

It’s not just the $300 under Abbott’s request to Department of labor Secretary Martin Walsh.

He asked for all funding to end including:

– Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (Section 2102), Addendum No. 1

– Emergency Unemployment Relief For Governmental Entities And Nonprofit Organizations(Section 2103)

– Emergency Increase in Unemployment Compensation Benefits – Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (Section 2102), Addendum No. 2

– Temporary Full Federal Funding Of The First Week Of Compensable Regular Unemployment For States With No Waiting Week (Section 2105), Addendum No. 3

– Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (Section 2107), Addendum No. 4 and Addendum No. 5 To Agreement Implementing Relief for Workers Affected by Coronavirus, as amended by section 261 of the Continued Assistance for Unemployed Workers Act of2020

— Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation (Section 2104), Addendum No. 5

“The Texas economy is booming and employers are hiring in communities throughout the state,” Abbott said. “According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the number of job openings in Texas is almost identical to the number of Texans who are receiving unemployment benefits. That assessment does not include the voluminous jobs that typically are not listed, like construction and restaurant jobs. In fact, there are nearly 60% more jobs open (and listed) in Texas today than there was in February 2020, the month before the Pandemic hit Texas.”

Abbott’s announcement said current job openings are good paying jobs.

According to the Texas Workforce Commission, almost 45% of posted jobs offer wages more than $15.50 per hour. About 76% pay more than $11.50 per hour, and only 2% of posted jobs pay around the minimum wage.

As for the non-profits, Schaefer said the state has handled the federal money and will continue to work to help with funding as needed.

Gill said he is pleased with the “good news” and said while the jobs open might not all be dream jobs, he said there is good income.

He understands some people who will not work because businesses are not paying enough.

“A lot of companies are below where they have to be. There is not a law that they have to pay $15 an hour, but they are starting to see they have to catch up and pay more,” Gill said. “And a lot of businesses since Jan 1 have made the adjustment.

“The unemployment system was created for people who can not find work,” Gill continued. “Before, Texas would check if someone was trying to get work. A lot of that flew out the window when Covid hit. I saw a report today that said 18 to 20 percent of all unemployment claims were fraudulent.”

Express Employment Services issued a compensation report for the first time to clients and companies they work with and he said that generated a lot of discussion in East Texas. He said companies understood where they need to be.

Gill said one company that has been fair to employees through the pandemic is the Tyler Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Services.

David Stein, owner of the local Office Pride said, “Our No. 1 issue is applicants in the door. We still maintain 80 to 85% of our workforce. They show up every time and on time. But we are like everyone else, we’ve been struggling to maintain staffing.

“However, I hope our clients can see the efforts we’ve made to keep our service levels at a high level. If we have service deficiencies, it’s not just our company going through this, everyone else is going through it also. We have to provide excellent and exceptional service. If we don’t we take it personally,” Stein added.

Stein is the chairman of the Smith County Republican Party but he said this issue is bigger than politics.

“To me, as a small business owner, anything that gets people back to work, I view it as a positive thing,” Stein said. “I am interested to see what happens on the state level. I think some people are capable of going back to work. I hope those coming back to work are ready to work and not upset they are not getting the subsidies they were getting before, which could create an unhappy workplace environment.”

Stein said they started increasing wages two years ago.

“We are paying $3 an hour more than we were two years ago,” he said. “Companies are looking at ways to reward people and compensate people. Companies are looking for ways to pay a good wage for honest work. People are waking up, we have a responsibility not to just be good employers but great employers!”

Abbott’s statement said with the state 100%, the focus must be on helping unemployed Texans connect with over a million job openings, instead of paying unemployment benefits to remain off the employment rolls.

A high level of fraudulent unemployment claims being filed is another reason for the decision to remove the federal benefits, according to Abbott.

“Fraudulent unemployment claims rob taxpayer money and do nothing to help the unemployed,” Abbott’s announcement read.

TWC states 18% or 800,000 of all claims for unemployment benefits during the pandemic are confirmed or suspected to be fraudulent. These claims total $10.4 billion, if all claims had been paid.

Federal law requires at least 30 days must pass after notification to the secretary of labor. As a result, the effective date for Texas will be June 26.