While the announcement that work-search requirements for unemployment benefits will return in Pennsylvania in mid-July is welcome news to employers struggling to fill jobs, it’s naive to assume this alone will solve workforce issues employers are facing.

Undoubtedly, there are some taking advantage of the $300-per-week federal benefit, making more money sitting on their couch than they would at work. These aren’t likely the quality workers employers are seeking.

The pandemic has created new barriers for many employees and exacerbated others that already existed.

News that Butler County’s jobless rate fell to 5.6% in April, the lowest since March 2020, seems uplifting.

However, the data shows no change in the number of workers employed between March and April. The improved percentage reflects a drop of 300 people in the labor force, which includes employed workers and those available for work who made at least one effort to find a job in the past four weeks or were laid off and expected to be recalled.

The number of county workers filing for unemployment is dropping. For the week ending May 22, according to state labor department data, just 2,771 workers filed benefits, marking a 28% decline from the lowest March figure.

The last time there were fewer workers filing for benefits was the week ending March 14, 2020, when 2,305 residents applied for unemployment insurance.

Less people are using the benefit, but when the number of people in the labor force is stagnant, it often means potential workers are unable or unwilling to work.

Child care is now a barrier for many working parents. The pandemic appears to have raised that barrier even higher.

COVID-19’s arrival prompted some child-care providers to shut down, while others limited the number of children in their care.

For parents who pulled their children from day care, the wait list to get back is likely long at a time when those lists were already long, costs were high and hours were limited.

Studies have shown that a lack of child care and health risk concerns were among the reasons the labor supply is short.

In February, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis released research showing that parents with children under age 5 left the workforce at high rates in spring 2020 amid the pandemic. The report showed that by November, most fathers had returned to the workforce, but mothers had not.

The bank’s recent research showed that 22% of parents were not working or were working less because of child care or schooling disruptions.

Yes, it’s time for the return of the work-search requirement. Pennsylvania rightly moved forward with this. But we wonder how it will affect the workforce dilemmas employers are dealing with. Is it enough?

To wait for relief to come — whether its the end of Pennsylvania’s work-search requirement or the end of the federal government’s extra unemployment compensation in September — would be to postpone inevitable conversations.

With or without the work-search requirement or the extra $300, how to resolve workforce barriers needs serious consideration.

— TAL