After hundreds of thousands of unemployed New Yorkers overwhelmed the NYS Department of Labor’s Unemployment phone lines the past two weeks, the agency now says you no longer have to call.
As of Thursday, the Dept. of Labor says a representative will now call you within 72 hours of filing your claim. This is good news for people who have called hundreds or thousands of times trying to get through to claim representatives but to only get busy signals or hung up on.
The website for the NYS Dept. of Labor will also be shutdown from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday so a new streamlined portal system will be installed. The agency has partnered with Google Cloud, Deloitte and Verizon to improve the reliability of its online and phone Unemployment Insurance application systems. The move is part of a tech surge in coordination with NYS Dept. of Labor and the NYS Office of Information Technology Services.
New Yorkers are urged to use the new online system, which can handle most applications from start to finish, dramatically reducing the number of New Yorkers who must speak to a claims specialist on the phone.
In addition, the Department of Labor will roll out a new “call back” system, allowing their staff to proactively call New Yorkers who need to submit additional information to support their existing unemployment assistance application. This means New Yorkers who have already filed partial claims under the old system and had been told to call the hotline to finish their application should not — instead, the DOL call center will call these New Yorkers directly.
“I recognize that this is an extremely challenging time for all New Yorkers,” said NYS Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon. “I have been unemployed. I understand the urgency. We want you to be aware of the steps that we are taking to respond to each of you, as quickly as we can. We know that your livelihood depends on it and we assure you that you will get your benefits.”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the New York State Department of Labor’s unemployment insurance filing system has faced an unprecedented increase in volume — with peak weeks seeing a 16,000% increase in phone calls and a 1,600% increase in web traffic, compared to a typical week.
The Department of Labor Tech Surge is providing critical upgrades to New York State’s unemployment insurance filing system during this crisis. These efforts are expected to increase capacity and reliability. Specific actions include:
The Dept. of Labor Unemployment Claim Center has now increased staffing to 1,000 — compared to roughly 400 who typically staff the call center — with plans to bring an additional 1,200 staff on board, including those at the new Deloitte call center.
NEW YORK -- At its annual gala dinner last week, Conservation International honored Amazon founder…
Lauren Jackson has been promoted from writer to associate editor of The Morning, the flagship…
NEW YORK -- Dripos, a software platform built specifically for coffee shops, has landed $11…
PURCHASE, NY -- PEPSI and chef Bobby Flay are setting their sights on one of the nation's…
Fleet Week New York (FWNY) returns to New York City from May 22-28 with two…
NEW YORK – New York Mayor Eric Adams announced the city will add two additional…