ORLANDO, Fla. – The state agency in charge of processing unemployment applications says it is working overtime to address a series of problems plaguing the system.

Many people have reached out to Spectrum News, describing a series of issues with simply applying.

“I’ve applied at least five times and it kept bringing me back to the main screen where you accept terms,” Nicole Mageau said.

Mageau is trying to file for unemployment after the Ormond Beach restaurant she worked at closed down two weeks ago.

“I tried to call them even and I got hung up on twice,” she said.

“The situation has gotten a lot worse and we’re doing our best to keep up with the emails we’re getting,” State Representative Anna Eskamani (D-District 47) said.

Eskamani said her office, along with other lawmakers, have been pressing the state and Gov. Ron DeSantis to address the system failures. Most issues involve people being kicked off of the online application or unable to get a hold of anyone by phone.

Eskamani said the unemployment application system has been plagued for years, when it was first developed under then-Gov. Rick Scott.

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity estimates at least 329,292 claims have been filed since the beginning of March.

Unemployment Benefits Applications in Florida

Week Ending March 7: 5,325
Week Ending March 14: 6,463
Week Ending March 21: 74,313
Week Ending March 28: 222,054

Those numbers are expected to grow as the state is able to accept and process additional applications.

Florida does not provide unemployment benefits to those who are self-employed or so called “gig economy workers” such as Uber and Lyft drivers, however they will received benefits from the Congressional CARES Act. That federal unemployment assistance will be processed locally through Florida’s unemployment system.

“The people of the State of Florida, we’re in a giant boat and it’s slowly tipping, so we need their help,” Stephanie Sanchez said.

Sanchez has driven for Uber for two years and says, like others, she has tried for weeks to apply for unemployment to no avail. The runarounds including being hung up on and a system that resets frequently. Sanchez says she continues to have problems with having to put in a PIN, but no way of getting through to the state to reset the pin.

“No one will reach back out to us and a lot of people are in the same situation, including a lot of families with children,” Sanchez said.

WHAT IS THE STATE DOING?

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said Tuesday it is taking a series of steps to try to address the crisis.

Gov. DeSantis waived the work search and online work registration requirements, which is believed to reduce some of the application process.

On Friday, DEO Executive Director Ken Lawson signed a contract with Faneuil, a third party company now contracted to provide customer and technical support. DEO says Faneuil will provide an additional 250 people to deal solely with Florida unemployment application issues.

DEO said at least 50 of those employees will be dedicated to helping applicants reset PINs. The agency has also hired 50 people to help in Tallahassee and Orlando call centers, and is looking to hire at least 50 more.

“Over the weekend, DEO made significant technical enhancements to the CONNECT system, including increasing our ability to provide on-site capacity through the installation and configuration of additional hardware that allows the application to serve more Floridians at once,” DEO said in a statement. “Additional enhancements also include the ability to track and provide services for individuals impacted by COVID-19.”

DEO said it is also looking into hiring a company to develop a process where applications can be submitted on mobile devices.