Lawmakers speak on hiring drought

Federal lawmakers weigh in the struggle of hiring when people are making more receiving enhanced unemployment benefits.

For countless local businesses the welcome mat is a help wanted sign we are just struggling to even find people baking company in downtown Utica that used to print out 50 job applications a week and they would run out now management here says they're lucky if they've given out two applications in the past year unemployment benefits being so large that this time that it's sort of deterring people from coming back with the extra $300 in pandemic unemployment insurance is $804 a week the extra 300 expires in early September nearly five more months it's not just service and minimum wage industries that can't hire people DFAS in Rome federal pension at all is having a hard time getting people to come to work this isn't just a local problem but I've heard what you said from other employers to and it's not just in your region I've heard it and right regions across the state unemployment this for sustenance when jobs are scarce but jobs right now are plentiful we asked Washington how can you fix this I will look into this because obviously we don't want to be helping people not take jobs that are in their area we want them to take jobs if they're available and they have the skills to do it obviously we could have been the bill or we could be more targeted we can come up with a way to truth to find that people who really are truly needy and cannot work are getting the benefit and those who congresswoman Claudia Tenney says the conversation is happening but not everyone wants to join it well we are having a conversation the problem is we don't have any Democrats who have shown an interest in changing the situation at this point so if they're not willing to amend the bill we can't change it in the house the two Federal lawmakers agree on one thing it's not just a simple New York problem it's all over the country Joleen Ferris News Channel 2