State Of Illinois Says More Staff Will Be Answering Unemployment Phone Lines As Frustrations Persist
CHICAGO (CBS) -- We exposed Wednesday night how few people are working the phones in Illinois to help those struggling to get through to finish filing for unemployment.
On Thursday night, we were happy to report that number is getting a much needed boost.
You won't hear the crack of a bat outside Wrigley Field anytime soon, or the swell of the organ. And that's not just music to Mike Rosel's ears - it's synonymous with work he depends on.
"I'm a worker for Wrigley Field," Rosel said. "I work for Levy Restaurants. We were gearing up for the new season."
And that is work he won't be getting back to anytime soon.
"Obviously, you know what happened with that," he said. "The bottom fell out."
And now, the stay-at-home order to fight coronavirus in Illinois has been extended to the end of May.
Rosel got the $500 grant the Chicago Cubs offered game-day employees who are out of work right now. But that only goes so far.
And he's not counted in the 102,937 number that was presented Thursday for the new unemployment claims filed in Illinois just last week, or the more than 700,000 claims processed to date - because he still hasn't been able to file successfully.
That is despite the work he's put in for more than a month now.
"I'm probably looking at 30, 40 calls a day, different times," he said. 'I understand that I am not the only one going through this. There are thousands in m Illinois that are going through this. But your story last night, where it said only 173 people were working the phone lines - what is going on, governor?"
CBS 2's Molina reported Wednesday night that there are 173 employees who work the phones at the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
But on Thursday, the IDES told us help is on the way - through a new virtual call center that they say will double the staff they have now, with plans to hire 200 new employees who will work from home to expand their capacity.
"In addition, our staff has logged 14,000 hours of overtime since March 1 through April 15. As previously noted, we've overhauled the website to improve efficiencies for those filing claims who have been affected by business closures and layoffs due COVID-19," IDES spokeswoman Rebecca Cisco said in a statement. "IDES implemented the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program (FPUC), which provides an additional $600 per week to claimants, as soon as we were federally permitted, and were one of the first states in the nation to do so. Additionally, this week, we implemented the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provides an additional 13 weeks of unemployment."
"If they can staff the phone lines and get people on the path to getting their checks, I think a lot of things will straighten itself out," Rosel said.
The state did not have an answer on whether those new hirings had happened yet, and when the call center will officially open. We will follow up on that.
CBS 2 is committing to Working For Chicago, connecting you every day with the information you or a loved one might need about the jobs market, and helping you remove roadblocks to getting back to work.
We'll keep uncovering information every day to help this community get back to work, until the job crisis passes. CBS 2 has several helpful items right here on our website, including a look at specific companies that are hiring, and information from the state about the best way to get through to file for unemployment benefits in the meantime.
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