ABC 7 on Your Side
By Michael Finney
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- 7 On Your Side revealed for the first time last night the Employment Development Department closed all of its unemployment offices - not just for the pandemic - but for good, 25 years ago. The staff was moved instead to call centers, taking claims and questions by phone. It was partly to keep them safe from disgruntled claimants, but more so to improve efficiency. So why isn't it a better system after all these years?
So many things went wrong when claims poured in to the EDD at the start of the pandemic. Folks couldn't get work or get benefits. So they flooded the EDD's call center. It was instantly overwhelmed. Which has many wondering: after 25 years of providing service by phone, why isn't it a state-of-the-art system?
Nearly two million calls per week poured in to the EDD call center at the height of the pandemic, but a state audit found fewer than one percent were getting through...
"Let's have modern call center technology. I represent Silicon Valley and know that it's just not that hard to set up a call center where people get a call back or they understand how long the wait time is," said State Senator Josh Becker (D - San Mateo).