Coronavirus Crisis Leads To 'Tsunami Of Unemployment Claims'

WESTBORO (CBS) – Hair stylists at Salon 77 in Westboro haven't seen their clients in six weeks. "I miss my people," stylist Maureen Harding said. "I miss my coworkers, I miss the creativity of it. I miss having a purpose."

Owner Andrea Afshari thought she could keep her employees on payroll and wait for her Payment Protection Program loan to come through to pay them, but three weeks after filing her application and one week after getting it approved, she doesn't yet have the money.

She made the difficult decision last week to lay off her stylists and tell them to apply for unemployment. "It was just weighing on me knowing if they can't put food on their table – I just felt terrible," she told WBZ.

Stylists say the moment of applying for unemployment benefits was "humbling." "Never. I never thought I'd be here," Maureen Harding said. "I've never needed to apply for unemployment."

"It's been life changing, for sure," stylist Netch Nunes added.

These stylists know they are not alone. In the last week alone, 70,000 people in Massachusetts have filed for unemployment.

"There's been a tsunami of unemployment claims," said Greg Sullivan, the research director at the Pioneer Institute. He says 24 percent of the Massachusetts workforce has filed for unemployment.

Sullivan compliments the state ramping up its unemployment system during the pandemic. "It's the equivalent of a gas station could take 100 customers an hour, except 3500 customers are showing up," he said.

Despite the potential of a reopening soon, Sullivan says unemployment claims will persist. "This isn't the end," he said. "Economists around the country are predicting there will be continuing unemployment claims going forward, at least over the next four weeks."

Nationwide, 3.8 million people applied for unemployment this week. In the last six weeks, 30 million Americans have applied.

The hairstylists at Salon 77 are ready to be back to work. "It's been hard," owner Andrea Arshari said. "This is our lives!"

Afshari plans to hire her employees back as soon as her PPP loan money comes in.