If you haven’t heard, King Soopers employees are on strike to protest unfair labor practices. Not all of them — only those at 77 stores from Boulder to Parker. But more may join soon as employment contracts in Pueblo, Fort Collins, Greeley and elsewhere expire this month or next. United Food and Commercial Workers Local […]
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
We may never know how many of Colorado’s missing workers died of COVID-19
Some readers have asked more than once: How many workers in Colorado died of COVID-19? It’s a valid question for this column because, as previously reported, Colorado has fewer people in the labor force these days compared with April. We’re also still down from 2019. While it’s impossible to know the exact number without contacting […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News, Technology
What’s Working: Need a job? Tech companies are hiring in Colorado as a pre-pandemic labor crunch continues
Long before COVID-19 and the ensuing labor crisis, the Colorado technology industry faced its own tight labor market. Four years ago, when Colorado’s unemployment rate was 2.3%, a local manager at job recruiter Robert Half told me that for some tech jobs the rate was even lower — more like 1%. Nineteen months into COVID, […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: 24,000 unemployed Coloradans must pay back pandemic jobless benefits
The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t end on Sept. 4, even though federal unemployment benefits did. Last week, the jobless scene may have seemed quiet to outsiders, but it wasn’t. And this week, it became much worse, as 24,000 folks who’d received pandemic unemployment aid learned they must repay some of the money. But more on that […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: As Colorado’s labor shortage blame game continues, most unemployed workers are actually back at work
If you look at job listings in Colorado, there’s more than 100,000 postings just on the state’s own job board. And as more than 100,000 people who were eligible for unemployment last week but are not this week, they’re looking for work. But I continue to receive mixed messages in my inbox that point to […]
Posted inBusiness, Culture, Economy, Food and Restaurants, News
What’s Working: There are more job openings than Coloradans on unemployment. Matchmaking isn’t easy.
The pandemic has created an out-of-balance workforce, and there could be more big changes next month. On one hand, somewhere around 100,000 Coloradans will stop receiving weekly unemployment checks after Sept. 4, when federal pandemic benefits end. On the other, thousands of employers are trying to fill 126,773 jobs, the state’s official job board showed […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
At least 87,000 Coloradans will lose all pandemic unemployment benefits in two weeks
With two weeks left of the federal unemployment program, more than 116,000 out-of-work Coloradans will be impacted by the end of federal relief, and 87,147 people will lose all benefits, state labor officials said. “These federal programs are ending effective the week ending Sept. 4, which is the final week that claimants can request payment […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Housing, News
What’s Working: Desperate times for employers as 134,000 Coloradans still are on federal unemployment
Located not far from the Telluride Ski Resort gondola, The Alpinist and The Goat needs help. Preferably, two waiters, a dishwasher and a prep cook. The downtown Telluride fondue restaurant pays wait staff a little more than $12 an hour, which is higher than the state’s $9.30 an hour for tipped employees. The days are […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
Colorado sees claims for unemployment benefits double in June. Officials suspect fraud.
While the number of Coloradans on continued unemployment has declined each week since late March, the number of people filing for a benefit reserved for gig workers has increased even as more people are vaccinated and return to work. Known as Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, this federal jobless benefit provides money to Colorado residents who don’t […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, News
What’s Working: Colorado asks how much does that job pay? Some out-of-state employers don’t like it
Colorado’s law to address pay disparity for women and people of color continues to get push back from companies outside of the state. On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal detailed the issue employers have: They don’t want to publicly post pay ranges for each job opening. Certain employers with remote jobs are purposely excluding Colorado […]