DEED On Which Workers Are ‘Critical’ During Stay At Home

ST. PAUL -- Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's two-week Stay at Home order has many people wondering how that will impact them.

Minnesota Department of Employment Commissioner Steve Grove says they believe most workers will fall under the critical industries category.

About 78 percent of the jobs in Minnesota are in critical industries as defined by the executive order, so it's just 22 percent that are not.

And, for workers and employers who need guidance, there is help for you.

What we've done is we've looked at each of those industries and fleshed them out by about 173 occupational categories. A little crisper sense if they qualify as a critical industry or not.

On-line information is at mn.gov/deed/critical. Grove says you can fill out a form on the website.

He says, due to the Governor's executive orders, about 28 percent of Minnesotans will be temporarily jobless, but 59 percent of those will have access to paid leave.

So far since the Governor's first executive order 165,000 people have applied for unemployment with one-third of those in the food industry.

He also says many industries are continuing to hire right now including the state government, healthcare, and grocery stores.