NYS Overwhelmed by Unemployment Claims

If you are filing for unemployment in New York, you’ve probably found it difficult if not impossible to reach someone in the NYS Dept. of Labor Unemployment Insurance Claim Centers.

That’s because call volumes have hit unprecedented levels with so many people forced out of work. The Dept. of Labor says it typically gets 50,000 calls per week for unemployment claims before the coronavirus shutdown happened. Last week, the NY Call Center got over 7 million calls and 1.2 million calls this past Monday.

The Dept. of Labor is trying to narrow down calls on Monday thru Wednesday based on the letter of the last name with everyone else able to call on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Over 700 employees are handling calls for unemployment claims and the Dept. of Labor is looking to hire 200 more in Albany and Endicott.

Frustrated users on Twitter have complained about calling up to 700 times per day and still not getting through.

The agency’s website is also experiencing high volumes and is unaccessible at times.

NY isn’t the only state being overwhelmed by unemployment claims as many other states across the country are seeing high demand for their services with the passing of the Cares Act that provides enhanced unemployment benefits funded by the federal government.

And it’s not just state unemployment services experiencing high demand from phone calls. Banks including Capital One, Chase and Wells Fargo are all reporting long waits for customer service and frustrated callers who are trying to get credit card or mortgage payments deferred.