CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ohio continues to deal with a record number of unemployment claims.
According to the latest numbers, about 468,000 Ohioans filed for benefits in a two-week period. Now, the state is hoping to get thousands of people back to work.
More than 33,000 jobs are available across the state.
“Anything from healthcare to manufacturing that is maybe ramping up to make some of the PPE and critical equip to the food supply chain. All of these incredibly important,” Lieutenant Gov. John Husted said.
Of the employers needing help with openings is CVS Health. The company currently has at least 1,200 openings in Ohio with more than 200,000 employees working on the front lines.
“Our people are facing the same things that everybody else is so there’s Quarantine. Some people have issues where they may be at more risk they don’t feel comfortable being exposed to people who might be sick so they need to stay home and take a leave of absence,” Vice President of Talent Acquisition Jeff Lackey said. “We need to be able to accommodate those people while at the same time keeping our stores open for our customers our patients.”
Lackey says about they received 800,000 applications in the past two weeks alone.
“Our teams are working feverishly to get in touch with each one of those individuals as they go through the process.”
As the need for help on the front lines during this pandemic continues to grow, Lackey says his team is partnering with 50 other companies to help laid-off and furloughed employees find work.
“We don’t expect them to all come and stay permanently with CVS health. We expect many of them will come in for a period of two months and then go back to their home employer,” he said. “We are changing everything in response, but quite frankly there’s no playbook and we’re figuring things out as we go.”
For more information on employment with CVS Health, click here.
Those needing to file unemployment can do so on the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services website. The department also has a listing of essential job openings.
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