State Unemployment Hotline Flooded with Calls

 By: Whitney Ray

Source: http://www.flanews.com/
The state’s unemployment compensation hotline is bogged down with people applying for unemployment benefits. The Agency for Workforce Innovation added more lines and more people to keep up with the call volume. With unemployment at a 13 year high in Florida, it’s getting hard to keep up with the calls.
Lamar Bivins says it took him weeks to get someone one on the phone at the state’s unemployment hotline.

“I started calling it, was like, three weeks, three and a half weeks and I never got through,” said Bivins.
Calls to the hotline have more than doubled since Florida reached a 13 year unemployment high. The State Agency for Workforce Innovation hired 200 extra operators and activated 70 additional lines to help field the calls.
“Agents are working 7 days a week to process claims,” said Robby Cunningham, a spokesman with the state Agency for
Nicole Valdez is working overtime to answer phones. She says the unemployment crisis is hitting every job sector.
“A lot of people who’ve had jobs for years are just unable to find work, because there’s not many new jobs out there for them,” said Nicole Valdez.
With so many Floridians in the same boat, call operators are asking people filing claims to be patient. Monday and Tuesday are the call center’s busiest days, since people with active claims have to certify their claims at the first of the week. The Agency is asking people to call Wednesday through Sunday if possible or to go to their website, www.fluidnow.com and make a claim online.