Governor Susana Martinez Announces Significant Progress at Department of Workforce Solutions

Press Release

Governor Susana Martinez announced today that the Department
of Workforce Solutions has seen significant progress in call processing times at the Unemployment Insurance Call Center. On January 25, Governor Martinez visited the Department to announce that the call center would extend its hours, operate on Saturdays, re-assign current employees to answer calls, immediately hire new representatives in training, and hire 20 additional customer service representatives under fast-tracked training guidelines. Since then, the Department:

* Immediately hired four new Customer Service Representatives.
* Filled an additional 20 Customer Service Representative positions under fasttracked
training guidelines.
* Fast-tracked training for all new hires moving forward.
* Instructed customer service representatives to process all calls before ending their
work days.
* Updated its website to allow claimants to file for federal benefits online.
* Opened for business on Saturdays in February from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

As a result of these interventions, wait times have seen a drastic decrease from as several hours in the weeks preceding the Governor's directives. Since January 26, average wait times have not exceeded 60 minutes. As of Friday, February 11, average wait time was below 30 minutes for those going through the process of filing and extending unemployment insurance claims even as the call center continues to process over a thousand calls each day. During lower-volume call periods on Saturdays, average wait
times were even lower, with callers on hold for less than seven minutes on Saturday, February 12. This decrease in wait time comes as call processing time has increased over the last year due to more a more complex filing process. Given recent and upcoming unemployment extensions, call volume is expected to remain high for the next few months.

"The reforms we put in place at Workforce Solutions have reduced call times and helped cut through the layers of red tape," said Governor Martinez. "However, this significant progress in assisting New Mexicans who need to file for unemployment benefits is no substitute for putting those people back to work. We will continue to tackle the problems that have persisted at workforce solutions, but ultimately we must promote job creation, work to put New Mexico's economy back on track, and minimize the need for our
workers to file for unemployment insurance."

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