Georgia’s new labor commissioner discusses changing the image of the agency

February 27th, 2023

Georgia’s tenth Commissioner of Labor, Bruce Thompson, discusses efforts to change the image of the Georgia Department of Labor. ( Photo credit: Georgia Department of Labor )

Bruce Thompson, who was recently elected as Georgia’s tenth Commissioner of Labor, says the Georgia Department of Labor ranked number one before the pandemic for minimizing the time Georgians were on unemployment, but his predecessor and others within the agency did not prepare for a crisis.

“We had $102 million that the Feds provided to us that we let expire December 31, 2022, that was designated so that we could modernize,” explained Thompson on Monday’s edition of “Closer Look.”

He further explained that he’s traveled to Washington, D.C., to request an extension to secure a contract to modernize the agency’s 1980s application system.

During the conversation, Thompson also talked about several topics, including his leadership style, his top priorities for 2023 and efforts to change the image of the Georgia Department of Labor.