Reaching someone at the state’s unemployment office may soon become more difficult.
Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity announced Wednesday that it is cancelling contracts with two vendors that have handled part of its phone customer service since the pandemic began.
That leaves 1,000 people out of work.
The two firms are AECOM in West Palm Beach and UDT in Miramar. AECOM has 800 employees, and UDT had 155 workers.
There’s a 4 step process to receiving #ReemploymentAssistance benefit payments. See below for more information and visit https://t.co/UICRJQHpsM pic.twitter.com/TAYlpTpYio
— Florida DEO (@FLDEO) July 15, 2020
“DEO has determined it is best to focus its efforts on the companies who have provided higher skilled and fully trained representatives,” spokeswoman Tiffany Vause said in the statement.
She went on to say, “Vendors who are not providing as high-quality services will not continue to provide services at this time. The Department remains committed to helping eligible Floridians receive their Reemployment Assistance benefits as quickly as possible.”
State officials said there are still more than 3,000 fully-trained customer service representatives to assist people with the CONNECT unemployment system.