Facing ‘Historic’ Claims, State Hires Firm To Assist Backlog

The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations announced July 27 that it hired Ernst and Young to help process a “historic” number of unemployment claims.

The $9 million contract calls on the multinational firm to set up a 125-person call center and review the state’s unemployment system.

“Every claim that awaits an eligibility determination is an individual facing uncertainty on the next step of how to pay for groceries, rent and other bills,” said DOLIR Director Anna Hui in a statement. “This is why we are engaging the help of Ernst and Young, whose additional manpower, perspectives, expertise, and experiences will help the state meet citizens’ needs by processing claims and answering calls, all the while analyzing our existing unemployment program processes so that together we can improve service delivery to meet current and future needs. We look forward to adding these additional resources to support those in the state workforce who have been working tirelessly to serve Missourians during this historic time.”

Missouri has processed more than $3.4 billion in unemployment benefit payments to more than 490,000 individuals since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Division of Employment Security (DES) said this is a 254 percent increase in initial claims compared to all the initial claims process in 2019.

DES utilized 300-plus staff members from all program areas, other DOLIR divisions, nine other Missouri state agencies and outside call center vendor help.

Temporary and full-time staff were hired to assist citizens in processing claims.

UInteract, the state’s online filing system, has faltered at times. The system went down July 13 due to “network-related issues” and again July 23-24 for maintenance.

Hui said despite DES’ own best efforts, more resources are needed.

It is our highest goal to help Missourians who are frustrated that their calls are not being answered as quickly as we would like, especially those whose unemployment claims are still pending after many weeks,” she said.

Ernst and Young will not only assist ongoing efforts to improve and enhance the process in the short term, but also offer long-term fixes.

DES is working on an outbound call system where claimants can schedule an appointment time for someone to call back and assist them.