The Idaho Department of Labor says it has added more agents and phone lines to hopefully shorten the hold times for unemployment claimants.
“The goal is for claimants to eventually experience shorter hold times,” the department said.
CBS2 reports all claimants who call Labor will be given this number (833) 410-1009 where 30 more people will be available to answer calls, take new claims over the phone and unlock accounts.
The call center will be staffed to answer calls from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. MT Monday-Friday. Spanish speaking agents will also be available.
The Labor Department also recently hired 20 people to help with the mass number of claims.
Laid-off Idaho workers have filed 141,628 initial claims for unemployment benefits during the 10 weeks of the COVID-19 state of emergency – 2.4 times the total number of initial claims filed in all of 2019.
