Right now there are about 2.4 million Texans who are unemployed (as of June 6th). The pandemic has led to tens of thousands of employees getting fired or laid off every week which leads to busy phone lines as everyone scrambles to call the Texas Workforce Commission at the same time. Unfortunately, this could be reality for workers across the country for the rest of this year or even in 2021 as the Coronavirus continues to spread and infect others.
That’s where John McCarley and his new app Stay A-OK come in. The website is a web platform to connect unemployed people to their state’s unemployment office which works in every state. The app works by automatically dialing an unemployment office’s phone number repeatedly if it is busy until the call is connected successfully. Alternatively, a user can use the app as their primary way to reach the unemployment office, freeing up their time to look for jobs, work on their resume, network on LinkedIn, or any other tasks, and mobile phone to place other calls while on hold.
“Right now there are about 2.4 million Texans who are unemployed”
Stay A-OK is a direct result of the founder being laid-off due to COVID-19 and having to dial the unemployment line over 200 times to get through. “Tens of millions of people were affected by the mass lay-offs that came in March and April caused by COVID-19. Many people I know, myself included, couldn’t get through to the unemployment office. The lack of information caused so much confusion, and states’ outdated systems were overwhelmed by the sheer number of calls they were receiving,” said McCarley.
The service will cost a small amount charging between $4.99 and $19.99, but the convenience it offers could help alleviate much of the stress that comes with sudden unemployment in a pandemic. Unfortunately the app isn’t live just yet, but should be live in the next few weeks. You can get a 25% discount at launch if you signup on the site now.
Donate to the GoFundMe which is at $2,010 as of press time: https://www.gofundme.com/f/stay-aok-unemployment-app
Sign up: StayAOK.com
Their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/stayaok/
Texas economic and unemployment stats a screenshot from the Texas Tribune from “How Coronavirus is hitting the Economy” article
Stay A-OK pricing graphic provided by Stay A-OK
Featured photo by Nathan Cowley from Pexels
