Southwest Montana News

Thousands of Montanans have been laid off due to the financial crisis caused by COVID-19, and many are struggling with the impact it's had on their lives. 

While some Montanans have been able to work from home, others have been facing furloughs and layoffs and have to apply for unemployment benefits. The Montana Department of Labor and Industry has had many people file for unemployment insurance, so much so that their website has crashed several times, according to Bozeman Daily Chronicle. 

Montana resident Brianna Schutz was told her job at the Cat's Paw, a bar in Gallatin County, was on hold until further notice. Although the bar put employees' jobs on hold, it continued to pay workers until April 3.

“The Cat’s Paw especially, we have an older customer base, so I completely understand the closure,” she told the Daily Chronicle. “They definitely have done what they can to help us."

Schutz said she will be applying for unemployment insurance once the Cat's Paw can't continue to pay its employees. 

But when David Kaltenbach was laid off, he was told he wasn't eligible for unemployment insurance. 

“That was supposed to be my first day at my new job. And that was the last day at my old job," Kaltenbach told the paper. “Because I had formally resigned my old job and I hadn’t officially started my new job, I am not eligible for unemployment."

Kaltenbach also plays with a band and teaches music lessons for additional income, but he said all of his gigs and all but one student have canceled. Now, Kaltenbach is looking for a job to provide for himself during this time of crisis. 

“Half the town is out of work, so everyone is applying for the few jobs that are left,” he told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. “The bills don’t stop, even if you’re not working…I have enough money for food and bills and to make rent for April, but then looking forward to May…I’m worried.”

Dan Haywood, an audio and lighting engineer for several companies in Bozeman, said he saw the layoffs coming before they hit most businesses in the area. Haywood does a lot of work for concert audio and lighting. When concerts began postponing and canceling, his industry got hit with layoffs. 

“The shows started dropping off one at a time. We kind of got hit before everyone else did," Haywood told the Daily Chronicle.

He said the companies he works for will hire him back once the pandemic passes, but until then, Haywood has applied for unemployment insurance. 

“It’s enough to get groceries,” he said to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. “It’s certainly not enough for me to pay my health insurance bills that I’m getting, and it’s not enough to pay for my medication. It’s not enough to pay for either of those things.”