Man in charge of NJ's unemployment failure still doesn't get it

When the pandemic hit and the Murphy administration ordered businesses to shut down it threw a lot of people out of work. The Department of Labor that handles unemployment claims was a complete failure in dealing with it.

Two years later we hear that there are still people who cannot get anyone to answer the phone, whose claims have gone unpaid, who have no means by which to actually walk in somewhere and talk to a state worker face to face.

The man who heads up this department is a hack by the name of Robert Asaro-Angelo. He is the Labor Department Commissioner and he recently appeared in front of the Senate Labor Committee about these massive failures.

In reaction to his testimony, state Sen. Kristen Corrado says that he should resign.

"Every attempt to work with the Department of Labor to help desperate people access their unemployment benefits has been a total nightmare. They don't answer calls, they don't respond to e-mails, and they don't provide any helpful information."

What does Asaro-Angelo have to say for the disgraceful failure of his department? He thinks they've done a wonderful job.

"I doubt any group of state workers has been as effective and productive as our UI agents these past two years."

That could only mean every other state department is even more of an embarrassment.

Sen. Corrado of course is right. Not enough has changed in two years and certainly not the Labor Commissioner‘s attitude. In the middle of the unemployment debacle back in 2020, we had him on the show several times. Listen for yourself to one of these interviews. It was like he was living in an alternate reality not taking any true measure of responsibility for the chaos.

New Jersey has no patience left for guys like this. We have real problems that need creative solutions. Not bureaucrats who don't understand people's pain.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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