Unemployment Claims Crash State Web Sites

1sockchuck writes "A sign of the times: a surge in filings for unemployment benefits has crashed online application systems in four states this week. Web sites in Ohio, New York, Kentucky and North Carolina have been knocked offline by unusually high volumes of jobless claims. Phone applications systems appearing to be faring even worse in many states. The thin silver lining: states are hiring workers for phone banks and buying new servers to prop up their web sites."

Comments

Stand-up philospher

[SoundGuyNoise]

Unemployment Clerk (Bea Arthur): "Did you bullshit this week?"
Comicus (Mel Brooks): "No."
Clerk: "Did you try to bullshit this week?"
Comicus: "Yes!"

Re:HUH??

[afidel]

Huh? Why would you waste gas traveling to the the unemployment office? Plus they can fill out job applications when they're done vs the time wasted traveling to and from the office plus waiting in line.

Re:HUH??

[cayenne8]

Actually...I've got sour grapes on this one.

I found out that my state (LA) royally fucks you out of UI, if you are self employed.

Yep, they actually have a statute written that says, if you are the primary shareholder of a company, you cannot claim UI. This just isn't fair.

I was recently between contracts for a few months. First time for this....so, I file for UI. Now, I have and S corp. I pay myself a salary out of what I bill. Out of that salary, I pay SS, I pay medicare...and I pay Federal and STATE unemployment fees.

Yet, when I went to collect them...I could not in the state of LA. That isn't fair? I pay into the system, but, I cannot take out when I need to?

I know this isn't that way in all states...I know people with the same set up, that collected UI just fine.

I called....I went in person...I appealed this to the highest set of judges..but, to no avail.

I swear, if I had enough time and money (I'm working again, but that kills the time aspect)...I'd try to get a lawyer and get that law overturned on principal alone. If I pay into a system..I should be able to get out of it.

So anyway...I've got a bad taste for UI complaints....

Slashdotted

[dmomo]

Well, when it's back up, someone make sure it gets on the front page of Slashdot.

Re:HUH??

[russotto]

Because if you are unemployed you shouldn't have the internet.

Yeah, because as a computer programmer, the first thing I'm going to do to cut back when I get laid off is sever my connection to the job boards and cut off my email access to everyone I know who might be in a position to hire me. F-ing genius.

Re:HUH??

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Seriously? People are too lazy to go to the unemployment office? Why am I paying taxes again?

Lazy is not a synonymn of 'efficient'. Assuming you went to a public school, I'm wondering why I'm paying taxes.

Re:HUH??

[afidel]

Sorry but the utility of having internet service FAR outweighs the cost, especially when you are unemployed! When I was laid off during the last recession it was probably the best bill I paid, I was able to apply for probably hundreds of jobs that were never advertised offline and eventually landed one of them. The fuel I would have burned and the wear and tear on the vehicle driving to the library every day would have been significantly more. Not to mention that the library has a limited number of seats and so if everyone did as you suggested there wouldn't be enough seat hours to go around. Oh, and in case you hadn't noticed these people are NOT getting something for nothing, they all paid their unemployment insurance tax while working as so are perfectly entitled to the benefits.

Re:HUH??

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

I missed the part where those forums and your e-mail wouldn't work at the Library.

I don't get why you think making it more difficult for them to find work will get them off of Unemployment faster.

Re:HUH?? UH HUH!

[JavaManJim]

You say "My parents raised 4 kids on about half of what I make now".

Could you be a bit more specific? Lets look a little closer.
A. What did your parents make in '82?
B. Go to the Minneapolis Federal Reserve home page.
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1084177&op=Reply&threshold=1&commentsort=0&mode=thread&pid=26367983
C. In the "What is a dollar worth" program
C1. Type 1982 into the year
C2. Type your parent's 1982 income amount into the "goods or services" field.
C3. Type 2008 into the "Then in" field. 2008 is the latest year they have data on file.
C4. Press the "calculate" button.

Finally let us know the result!

This Fed calculation is quite useful for all time oriented dollar amounts. You will notice that news sources constantly compare today's dollar to yesterday's dollar as if they were the same. They are not.

Thanks,
Jim

Re:HUH??

[Architect_sasyr]

Maybe some of the GP's post were a bit off, but he has a great damned point. I'm reminded of working a drive through and seeing a guy in a nice hotted up car, the full kit - a gorgeous rumble, nice rims, interior done right up, custom paint job and so on - counting out 5c pieces so he could get three meals for 4 kids who looked so damned grubby they could have come out of the deep fry along with the burger I was giving them. I'm not claiming to know their exact situation, but I had the distinct impression that he put everything into the car at the detriment of his partner and children. The same annoyance happens when I see cable or sat. dishes on government housing out here in Aus.

I don't hope we have another depression, but I'd like to see some enforced restrictions on what you can use your unemployment money for. Like not getting fox or 52" screens.

Re:HUH??

[visualight]

Disconnecting your internet connection when you need to be searching for a job is the most retarded idea I ever heard. It's an enabling resource, as is a phone and an automobile depending on where you live.

When these people... You're 26 years old and you're so worldly and wise that you get to refer to the down and out as "these people" ? Or is it that you've never been one of them? Do YOU know what it's like to stand in line at a mission? To buy half chicory coffee? Ever live in your car for months at a time? How many times have you had to come to home to people dependent on you and announce you've been laid off? Can you relate to a desire ( the INSTINCT ) to preserve some semblance of normalcy for your family?
I think you lack the needed perspective to be judging these people.

And THIS: Nothing is more disgusting than watching Best Buy drop off a Plasma screen TV to Government subsidized housing and I know full well they all have the $150/month HDTV Cable plan.
I gotta call you out on this one. Nothing pisses me off more than the never ending made up welfare cadillac anecdotes. That's right, I'm saying you made that shit up, you never saw Best Buy drop off a Plasma TV to a government subsidized home.

If there's a Just God, He'll grant you some experience in these matters.

Re:HUH??

[eln]

I, for one, applaud your grandparents for having the fortitude to be able to live without the Internet during the Great Depression. Truly, their sacrifices knew no bounds.

Re:HUH??

[timeOday]

I hope we hit another depression. Grandma and Grandpa knew how to live frugally.

This is characteristic of a peculiar mindset. "Look at that guy not wearing a seatbelt. I hope he gets in a crash and dies! Wahhh!" It comes from a fixation on the rules over and above what they are intended to accomplish.

Here, you will enjoy this.

Re:HUH??

[0100010001010011]

According to this website.
CPI in 2008 is 211.08, in 1982 was 94.3.

My parents currently make $42k. I currently make $78k. Assuming their jobs were adjusted for inflation they only made quite a bit less when I was born.

I'm socking away money left and right while kids that I went to college with go out and buy big TVs and new cars. My house is set at 45 degrees. I've shut off my hot water heater and shower at the gym (Which costs me less than what running the heater would cost, plus I work out there too). My car is 12 years old and has 220k on it (but still runs fine). Growing up my dad would get 1-2 years out of a $500 car and get another one. I buy almost everything second hand, including clothes.

I do have some 'nice' things like the internet and my MacBook Pro and a house a bit nicer than my parents. But it's frustrating to no end to drive past the subsidized housing on the way to work and see nicer cars than me. People crossing the street on iPhones and wearing brand new clothes. People that bitch they have no money but have plenty of money for 2 packs a day. Some people need to be taught the difference between Want and Need.

And my company has never had an engineering layoff in the entire 85+ year history of the company. I think I'm doing pretty good.

Re:HUH??

[JWSmythe]

    I don't think people quite get it.

    I was in the same situation. I've done IT work for longer than most people here have been able to read. :) When I got laid off, I did two things. I filed for unemployment, just in case I couldn't get a job, and then I went job hunting. The unemployment forms in my state take a couple hours, and a good bit of research. How much did I make at that job two years ago? What is their current contact information? Oh shit, the company moved out of country, but I still have to list someone who can verify I worked there. What's their current mailing address? A contact? A phone? I haven't talked to them in almost two years, why should I know this? Even the office phone number was on speed dial ... on my work cell phone that I turned in on my last day there.

    After I got done the unemployment paperwork, which the unemployment office actually recommended doing online versus one of their branch offices which just has a terminal to do it online, I then went job hunting. I called every contact I could think of. I checked all the job boards. I went to interviews at crappy places. One of the best was with a scientologist run company. I never "interviewed". They had me take their pseudo-psych profiling test to see if I was worthy. When I researched the test they gave me, I'm sure I scored in the "don't ever contact this person, he will be subversive" range. :) It took a few weeks to get another job. I'm not a McDonalds level employee. I'm close to a C-level tech person (CIO/CTO, depending on the size of the company). While contacts may be begging me to come over and work for them while I'm employed, that window of opportunity isn't always still available the day I need new work.

    I collected two checks from unemployment, and that was it. $250/week, the ceiling for unemployment in my state. It wasn't much, but it insured I could put gas in the car and feed the family until I got my next job.

    Just because I just got laid off, should I disconnect all my services (power, water, phone, internet), and sell my computers? Hell no. The next job is coming soon, and I *NEED* those. Without them, I wouldn't have landed my next job. I found them on a job board. I applied online. I spent 8 hours a day browsing what was available, and matching them up to my skills. Well, some days I spent at head-hunter offices, with no real advancement. "Oh, we can place you immediately, we'll call you tomorrow". They'd all, say that they sent my resume to some company at a vague loation, and then never hear back. My resume, although glowing, was just one in a stack of 100 that they sent to each place. Head-hunters used to be great. Now they're trying to make a buck too. Hopefully they can get one of those 100 hired, so they make their commission.

    I thought the head-hunters had forgotten about me, until I got a flurry of "offers" in a few weeks ago. I actually read them (I'm working, so I'd usually ignore them). They were all for the same job. Everyone was so hopeful to be able to make that deal. It's really sad out there right now.

    I say keep what you have, for as long as you can. My "home office" now consists of one PC and a laptop, because I'm no longer living in my nice house, with lots of room for my whole setup (which has since been sold or given away). I'm hopeful that the economy will get better, because if it doesn't, I'm almost tempted to beg to join the Army. Sure, I'll get shot at for 15% of my old pay, but it'll pay better than McDonalds, even though I'll run the risk of getting killed daily. When it gets bad enough, McD won't be any safer. Desperate times call for desperate measures. If you haven't eaten in a week, bringing a gun (the last valuable you own) into McD to rob the place for food and cash on hand doesn't sound all that bad.

   

Irrational envy

[TapeCutter]

"Some people need to be taught the difference between Want and Need."

While others need to learn the meaning of irrational envy.

"And my company has never had an engineering layoff in the entire 85+ year history of the company."

The confidence of youth is mainly due to a lack of experience. Now before you start lecturing me about the GoodOldDays(TM) I should inform you that my eldest son was born two years before you were. Like yourself he has never had to find work in a recession, let alone the depression you are wishing for.

"I think I'm doing pretty good."

So STFU and enjoy it instead of bitching about people you know nothing about.

Re:HUH??

[Arthur Grumbine]

...could have come out of the deep fry along with the burger I was giving them...

You guys deep-fried your burgers!?! Tell me the name and location of your former restaurant immediately!!

Re:HUH??

[El Yanqui]

But it's frustrating to no end to drive past the subsidized housing on the way to work and see nicer cars than me. People crossing the street on iPhones and wearing brand new clothes. People that bitch they have no money but have plenty of money for 2 packs a day. Some people need to be taught the difference between Want and Need.

Frustrating? I think you are far too concerned with other people. Seriously, you sound like somebody who is doing well for himself so focus on your own life and stop worrying so much about what other people are doing, buying and how they live their lives.

Re:HUH??

[HungWeiLo]

when I have kids

Here's a piece of advice. No woman will mate with you or live with you at your current thermostat setting. At the very least, turn it up to about 70 for about half an hour during the deed.

Some women can be pretty downright frugal, but I know none in modern times who will live with a 45-degree thermostat setting. FFS, not even poor peasants in rural China will tolerate that.