Shifting from emergency support to long term economic recovery Carrie Rosingana View Comments Over 1 million Michiganders were unemployed this time last year. That’s the highest number of unemployed residents in the state’s recorded history. As part of Michigan Works!’s long-standing partnership with the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA), our system and agencies state-wide saw an opportunity to help our fellow Michiganders. Over 500 Michigan Works! staffers were cross-trained on several technical aspects to assist claimants. We assisted over 1.2 million callers, helping them file claims, navigate accounts and answer questions. Michigan Works! produced positive results for hundreds of thousands of Michiganders over the past year through our work with UIA alone.