Despite fixes, unemployment department still tough to reach for many

[Newsjock]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

SACRAMENTO — Despite an infusion of money and workers in recent months, the phone number that most out-of-work Californians rely on for questions about their unemployment benefits or missing checks remains swamped by millions of calls.

Officials say it still takes about 17 tries before a live operator is reached at the state Employment Development Department and that nearly two-thirds of the 18.9 million calls received last month were rejected because the phone service was too busy.

Troubled by those long odds? Then consider this: Before some 1,650 new workers came on this spring, callers needed to dial the department a whopping 42 times to get through. And of the 50 million calls that came in during January, more than 85 percent were turned away.

... The department says it has already distributed $12.5 billion in unemployment insurance benefits this year — 50 percent more than the record $8.1 billion paid out in all of 2008. And many people, because of federal extensions of unemployment benefits, are staying on state rolls longer than usual.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_13282982

[doc03]

1. A friend of mine spent 4 hours on hold

one day before a human answered.

[customerserviceguy]

2. I would imagine that California

would have online filing for claims, like we did when I was living in Washington State.

[undeterred]

4. Yes, but usually you have to make at least one phone call

to open a claim in the first place. You can't do it in person or online, you have to do it over the phone. And it can take a month to get the claim opened.

[slackmaster]

3. People without Internet access are screwed

The EDD's Web site makes it very easy to open claims and to get answers.

[customerserviceguy]

5. Don't most all libraries have Internet access?

And don't most unemployed people have at least one person in their life who would let them use the Internet to file?

Frankly, these days, if you don't have Internet access, you're probably not going to be able to get a job. Just about all employers use it as a screening tool.

[undeterred]

6. Many libraries have some internet access

as do some State unemployment offices. The problem is that right now there are hundreds or even thousands of people who need to use it. So if you're looking for a job online, which can take up many hours per week, its pretty hard to get it done that way. And you pay to have internet at home and keep a computer functioning.

Jobs that don't require using a computer often don't require that you have internet access to apply. Retail, construction, and food service jobs don't require computer skills. You go there in person and fill out an application.