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IDES: ILLINOISANS MUST
FILE RÉSUMÉS TO RECEIVE UNEMPLOYMENT PAYMENTS
Illinois Policy Institute
By linking
unemployment payments with the requirement to submit a résumé, the
Illinois Department of Employment Security is trying to connect
unemployed people with employers faster, helping job seekers find
employment, and saving taxpayers money.
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 The Illinois Department of Employment Security, or IDES, has announced that
starting July 17, Illinoisans filing claims for unemployment insurance must also
submit their résumés to the department’s employment service to receive
unemployment benefits.
Illinois law requires people seeking unemployment benefits to register with the
IDES employment service, but until now, the law has gone largely unenforced. In
fact, the Chicago Tribune reported that 60 percent of unemployment claims filed
with IDES lack completed employment service registration.
By linking unemployment payments with the requirement to submit a résumé, IDES
is trying to connect job seekers with employers faster, according to the
department. More than 180,000 open positions are currently listed on the
employment service’s site.
IDES’s new policy will facilitate the prompt launch of a serious job search by
every Illinoisan seeking unemployment benefits. This can help unemployed people
by expediting their connection with potential employers and reducing the risk of
long-term unemployment, which can have devastating effects on people’s career
prospects and personal well-being.
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 And, as unemployment benefits are funded through payroll taxes
paid by employers, the faster an unemployed person finds a job, the
lower the burden on Illinois taxpayers.
Moreover, requiring every applicant to file a résumé will help
discourage unemployment insurance fraud. If unemployed people are
required to post résumés, people already earning paychecks will be
less likely to risk detection by the state and their employers by
filing fraudulent unemployment claims. Further prevention of
unemployment fraud could save state taxpayers millions. Illinois
Attorney General Lisa Madigan estimated in 2014 that investigative
and enforcement efforts by IDES and the attorney general’s office
saved taxpayers $400 million over three years.
Illinois’ unemployment rate stood at 6.4 percent as of May – the
most recent month for which data are available – according to the
federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Illinois has the second-highest
unemployment rate in the country, behind only Alaska’s 6.7 percent
rate. Measures to make sure unemployed people are connecting with
employers and job opportunities are a commonsense step to help
address this problem while saving taxpayers money.
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