Post by Logan on Feb 18, 2016 23:19:59 GMT -6
CRANSTON, R.I. — Wait times at the state's unemployment call center have spiked in recent months, leaving unemployed Rhode Islanders on hold for weekly averages as high as 47 minutes and highlighting a persistent problem that still plagues the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.
The agency has struggled with such delays since at least 2008, when callers waited hours on hold — or the system simply hung up on them when it couldn't handle up to 24,000 calls a day during the Great Recession.
As three consecutive administrations have worked to fix the problem, average weekly wait times have ebbed and flowed: 31 minutes, June 2010; 50 minutes, December 2012; 40 minutes, February 2015; 7 minutes and 41 seconds, the last week of September 2015. The worst in recent months: 47 minutes, the weeks ending Jan. 13 and Jan. 27.
At this time of year, the number of people filing unemployment claims peaks, DLT Director Scott Jensen said. Landscapers and construction workers tend to file claims in mid-December as the weather turns colder; some manufacturers close for up to two holiday weeks; bus drivers, substitute teachers and school food-service workers file during school breaks; and then retail and hospitality business slows after the holidays, prompting layoffs at shops and restaurants.
Read more: www.providencejournal.com/news/20160218/wait-times-plague-ri-jobless-call-center
The agency has struggled with such delays since at least 2008, when callers waited hours on hold — or the system simply hung up on them when it couldn't handle up to 24,000 calls a day during the Great Recession.
As three consecutive administrations have worked to fix the problem, average weekly wait times have ebbed and flowed: 31 minutes, June 2010; 50 minutes, December 2012; 40 minutes, February 2015; 7 minutes and 41 seconds, the last week of September 2015. The worst in recent months: 47 minutes, the weeks ending Jan. 13 and Jan. 27.
At this time of year, the number of people filing unemployment claims peaks, DLT Director Scott Jensen said. Landscapers and construction workers tend to file claims in mid-December as the weather turns colder; some manufacturers close for up to two holiday weeks; bus drivers, substitute teachers and school food-service workers file during school breaks; and then retail and hospitality business slows after the holidays, prompting layoffs at shops and restaurants.
Read more: www.providencejournal.com/news/20160218/wait-times-plague-ri-jobless-call-center