Less Than One Percent of Wisconsin Unemployment Calls Answered During Height of Pandemic

A new third-party audit report shows that only 0.5 percent of calls to Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development (DWD) were answered between March 15 and June 30. The shocking report goes on to reveal that of an astounding 41.1 million calls made to the department amidst the COVID-19 pandemic during that time period, 93.3 percent were blocked or received busy signals.

The report, from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, points to a massive failure within the department's call centers during a time when an unprecedented number of people were suffering and in need of unemployment benefits. The department and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers have subsequently come under fire, and DWD Secretary Caleb Frostman ended up resigning on September 18.

"To date, the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Division has processed over six million claims and has paid out over $3.7 billion in unemployment benefits over the past six months," said Amy Pechacek, transition director of the DWD following Frostman's resignation. "These benefits have helped our neighbors navigate extraordinarily difficult times and have helped stabilize entire communities across the state."

According to the audit, the DWD spent $9.3 million on its three call centers between March 15 and July 31. The department more than doubled its call center staff from 90 to 188 agents. The audit report also indicates that only 6.6 of initial claims filed from April 26 to August 22 were placed by phone.

Frostman said during his time in office that the main call center failings include an outdated system installed in the 1970s combined with the need to train individuals to boost staffing.

According to Pechasek, the DWD has been working to increase its phone system capacity, help center hours and staff numbers. She said customer service for claimants has improved significantly since late July, and the department has been able to accept nearly all incoming calls since then.

"UI received an unprecedented number of calls into its UI help center throughout the spring and early summer, receiving nearly 5.8 million calls in one week," said Pechasek in a statement. "Many Wisconsinites impacted by COVID-19 had never before applied for unemployment insurance so understandably had many questions about the program and the application process, as well as about the new programs and changes passed by the federal and state governments. DWD's antiquated IT system hamstrung DWD's ability to quickly implement new changes and programs, which prompted even more calls and questions into the UI help center."

Edited by Maurice Nagle