COVID-19 Causes the Most Pain for Tennessee’s Hospitality Workers

 

East Tennessee and Northern Middle Tennessee have two things in common at the moment.

Residents in both regions of Tennessee have filed more unemployment claims than anywhere else in the state because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Also, both areas have a large hospitality industry.

And if tourists may not travel to those areas then, of course, Tennessee’s hospitality industry cannot thrive.

“There is no way to know for certain why these areas of Tennessee have seen more unemployment than others. But, Nashville sits in the Northern Middle Tennessee region and the Smoky Mountains are part of the East Tennessee region,” said Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development spokesman Chris Cannon, in an email to The Tennessee Star this week.

“These locations are home to a majority of the state’s hospitality industry. This industry has been one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 health emergency in our state.”

As reported, more than 112,000 Tennesseans filed unemployment claims this past week. Residents in the Northern Middle Tennessee and East Tennessee regions represent the areas with the highest number of claims with 72,365 of the 112,438 between them. There is no way to know when fewer Tennesseans will start filing unemployment claims, Cannon said.

“The number of claims filed in the coming weeks will directly depend on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, which at this point is uncertain,” he said.

“There is no way to predict the ebb and flow of newly filed unemployment claims in Tennessee. The Department does not have a scientific method to predict when the peak of new claims will happen.”

As The Star reported, TDLWD officials said they are processing unemployment claims as quickly as possible to determine eligibility and distribute benefit payments.

TDLWD has added additional resources to help process the influx of new claims, including training 200 Department employees to shift their job tasks to unemployment.

Cannon said the maximum weekly unemployment benefit in Tennessee is $275 before the deduction of federal taxes. Claimants receive this benefit through a debit card or direct deposit to a bank account.

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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].