“Thank you for calling. Please try again later” was the phone message in numerous instances on Monday for calls placed to the beleaguered state Employment Development Department call center, in a new indication of the economic destruction unleashed by the coronavirus.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that the EDD phone banks, bolstered by hundreds of additional employees and a new phone center, would be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.
Monday was slated to be the start of the EDD’s dramatically expanded effort.
The EDD says it has processed a “historic number” of unemployment claims in the wake of coronavirus-linked business shutdowns imposed by the government.
“Thank you for calling the Employment Development Department Unemployment Insurance Self-Service Line” was beginning of the phone greeting for more than 10 phone calls placed to the EDD office on Monday.
However, the calls, placed from different cell phones, quickly went downhill after that hopeful start. The calls were placed to the number listed on the EDD’s website, 866-333-4606
“We are currently receiving more calls than we can answer,” the EDD phone line stated, as a prelude to the call being disconnected.
The goodbye message was repeated in Spanish.
The EDD also directed people to a web page where individuals could create an account to process, track, and update their unemployment claims.
This news organization has emailed the EDD regarding a number of issues linked to the state agency’s response regarding the surge in unemployment claims. The requests for comments by the EDD were made Monday and in other recent days.
Last week, Gov. Newsom announced the ranks of the EDD’s unemployment insurance unit had swelled to 1,340 employees, including 740 EDD employees and 600 employees from other state government agencies.
On Monday, though, it wasn’t immediately clear whether those hundreds of additional workers had made a meaningful dent in handling the avalanche of unemployment claims.
“Please try your call again later,” was how the EDD phone message ended in English. In Spanish, it ended with “Gracias. Adios.”
