LANSING – From the files of strange but true: Michigan’s economy is improving so strongly that the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs is laying off more than 400 workers from the unit that handles calls from the jobless with questions about unemployment benefits.
The layoffs involve 177 temporary workers and up to 225 permanent workers, said LARA spokesperson Mario Morrow.
Notice of the layoffs went out in the mail Monday to the temporary workers, so word of them spread Tuesday as those notices were received. The department will notify the permanent workers, who enjoy greater union protection, August 31. In both cases, the layoffs will take effect two weeks later, Mr. Morrow said.
“It’s an upward/downward day because we’re losing some very important, dedicated staff members who helped us out in a crunch in crisis,” he said. “But we’re also to some extent delighted that our economy is turning around, and we’re not getting those hundreds and hundreds of calls per day from our worried citizenry about jobless benefits.”
Morrow said the initial plan when the state hired the temporary workers more than two years ago was for them to work for six months. Instead, the recession was so severe that the state needed them much longer.
As the state’s unemployment numbers improve, it receives less federal funding for unemployment benefit operations.
“We’re not able to maintain them because we don’t have the funds to pay them,” he said.
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