DOL ups staff to handle flood of jobless claims
Despite the imposed state hiring freeze, Gov. John Baldacci recently gave the Department of Labor the green light to hire 10 additional call center operators to handle the growing number of people calling the state in search of unemployment benefits.
New unemployment claims in November increased 23% from the same period last year, while ongoing and emergency claims were up 74%, according to the Portland Press Herald. The state's three unemployment call centers and 18 phone operators have been unable to handle the flood of calls coming in and the labor department sought to hire 10 additional people to staff the phones. But in October Baldacci blocked the move, citing the state's sharp drop in revenue. He has now reversed that decision, according to the newspaper.
The new employees' salaries and benefits are fully funded by the federal government, but the state hiring freeze applies to all state jobs even if their salaries are paid by Washington, D.C., the paper said.
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