Unemployment frustration: Lt. Gov. Husted gives new timeline of improvements to filing system

Amid frustration from Ohioans over difficulty in filing for unemployment, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announced several coming improvements during the state’s daily press briefing Wednesday.

Here is the timeline promised by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services:

THIS WEEK

• Text to speech feature to be added to website
• Interactive voice recognition/bot system to be added to answer FAQ’s
• 337 new staff members to be onboarded

NEXT WEEK

• Virtual call center to be implemented to speed up wait times
• OJFS to continue processing $600/week payments authorized under Federal Cares Act
• Online tool set to launch for self-employed 1099 workers to get in line early (their claims will be processed starting May 18).
• Other e-application improvements to be made

May 18

• Processing to begin on applications for those entitled to 13 weeks of unemployment under Federal Cares Act

The lieutenant governor also provided a helpful hint for those applying-- By entering in the number 2000180, the need to verify an employer is eliminated.

Husted explained during the press conference that Jobs and Family Services have been overwhelmed by the sudden surge in unemployment applicants. Before the pandemic, their call center employed 42 people; they now have 1194 workers.

He also noted that the website used for applications was built in 2004, and is not a cloud based system. “This worked fine when the unemployment rate was 4%,” he said. The department plans to build a cloud-based website in the near future.

“This process will not stop improving until everyone is served," Husted promised.

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