TOM COLE AND — TOM: ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS WE HEAR FROM VIEWERS IS THEY NEED HELP WITH CLAIMS FOR UNEMPLOYMENT, AND THEY CANNOT GET A HOLD OF ANYONE AT THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. A SHORT WHILE AGO, ACTIVE LABOR SECRETARY SAID THE STATE IS GOING TO BE HIRING ADDITIONAL STAFF TO HELP WITH THE THOUSANDS OF EMAILS AND PHONE CALLS THEY GET FROM PEOPLE EVERYDAY. STAFF IS BEEN WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK ALL WEEK, BUT IT HAS BEEN DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO KEEP UP WHEN THEY GOT — THEY RECEIVED 49 — 4900 EMAILS LAST WEEK. IT IS BEEN CHALLENGING THE STAFFING, RETENTION RATE, CUSTOMER SERVICE. TOM: THERE MAY BE EVEN MORE ADDITIONS TO THE STAFF IN MARCH. THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR INDUSTRY HAS RECEIVED MORE THAN 5 MILLION APPLICATIONS FOR THE FEDERALLY SUPPOR
Pa. Labor & Industry Dept. to hire more customer service staff to handle unemployment emails, calls
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry said Tuesday it plans to increase its staff to deal with the massive demand for help with unemployment claims.Many News 8 viewers who have run into problems with their unemployment claims have reported that they can’t get a response from L&I.L&I acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier said the department is going to hire an additional 120 customer service workers this month to help handle the thousands of emails and phone calls the department receives every day.Berrier said staffers are working around the clock, but it’s been difficult for them to keep up. The state handled more than 49,000 emails last week, she said.Manpower is a big issue, according to Berrier.“It’s definitely been challenging. We’ve experienced challenges with our staffing and our retention rate in keeping our customer service folks with us,” Berrier said.Berrier said there may be even more additions to the customer service staff in March. According to Berrier, L&I has received more than 5 million applications for the federally supported unemployment programs – Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry said Tuesday it plans to increase its staff to deal with the massive demand for help with unemployment claims.
Many News 8 viewers who have run into problems with their unemployment claims have reported that they can’t get a response from L&I.
L&I acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier said the department is going to hire an additional 120 customer service workers this month to help handle the thousands of emails and phone calls the department receives every day.
Berrier said staffers are working around the clock, but it’s been difficult for them…
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