WISCONSIN (NBC 26) — The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced that it has secured contracts with outside vendors to expand efforts to directly assist more claimants faster.
According to the DWD, they received more than 518,000 unemployment applications and more than 1.8 million weekly claims between March 15 and May 9. The department says since April 21 staff has received more than 72,000 applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA).
To assist with calls and processing the high number of claims for unemployment benefits, the DWD explains it is working with two call center vendors and also a processing and adjudication vendor.
The DWD states that with additional staff helping, it is extending call center hours to 7 A.M. to 5 P.M. The agency commented that staff with not be accepting new calls after 5 P.M. but will answer all calls remaining in the queue. The hours were previously 7:35 A.M. to 3:30 P.M.
DWD says the two call center vendors are Alorica and Beyond Vision. The department explains that Alorica will answer calls related to unemployment benefits and is expected to have up to 500 work-at-home employees answering calls once fully staffed. Additionally, Beyond Vision will employ 40 people to handle calls related to PUA applications scheduled to open on June 1.
The processing and adjudication vendor is Nelnet, according to the DWD. The department says this vendor is dedicating approximately 100 people to process claims and at least 100 people for adjudicate claims. They say training for the Nelnet staff is anticipated to begin June 1.
In addition to the new call centers, the DWD says it is currently recruiting new employees to fill more than 315 positions. Since the onset of COVID-19, the agency has been reassigning its employees to the Unemployement Insurance (UI) Division and is in the process of receiving additional assistance from other state agencies to help with the enormous workload.
The DWD explains between external vendors, new hires, and transfers into UI, approximately 155 staff started the week of May 11 and another approximate 230 are expected to start the week of May 18.
"I'm incredibly appreciative and excited for the additional assistance our UI Division is getting from other DWD divisions, state agencies, and vendors," DWD Secretary Caleb Frostman said. "We need all hands on deck to help the people of Wisconsin get the resources and financial support they need during the pandemic."
Additionally, the DWD mentions the implementation of JARVIS, a chatbot software application, for its website. JARVIS assists claimants to locate resources based on the information they provide. With more people using the chatbot to find answers already on the DWD's website, the DWD will have additional capacity to assist claimants with more complex issues.
