ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis admitted Wednesday he expects the number of unemployment applications filed will grow, as widespread problems still bog down the system, leaving many unable to apply at all.

The latest problem has been extended downtimes of the website where people are supposed to apply. Other issues include a call system automatically hanging up on people, or an online system restarting midpoint.

“I tried to call them even, and I got hung up on twice,” said Nicole Mageau of Ormond Beach.

“No one will reach back out to us,” said Stephanie Sanchez.

“I took me 4 to 5 hours to finish one form,” said Zeyad El Mashak.

“It’s a cliffhanger, you don’t’ know,” said Josh Goodman. “You hope they do the right thing.”

Goodman has been trying to apply for unemployment benefits after being laid off more than two weeks ago. He worked for more than 7 years at a restaurant at an area resort and is among those told, for now, paychecks won’t be coming.

“So far, it’s been submitted, I have a PIN verified, I have no information,” Goodman said. “I was told I would get information within 72 hours. I call on the line, they don’t have any information go give me. It’s discerning.”

For weeks, Spectrum News has been sharing stories of Floridians reporting problems plaguing the unemployment system, and pressing state leaders about what they’re doing to fix the issues.

“It’s obviously a priority, I know they’re working hard on it,” DeSantis said Wednesday when questioned by reporters about the lingering issues. “You’re talking about a capacity for that agency that is so far beyond what they’ve been able to do.”

DeSantis chalked some of the issues up to a surge of sudden applications.

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity says more than 329,292 claims have been filed since the beginning of March, including 222,054 applications filed just in the week ending March 28.

“My direction has been to spare no expense, hire who we need to hire in order to be able to get this done,” DeSantis said.

Calling it a “shock to the system,” DeSantis said Wednesday he predicts the number of applications will continue to grow.

The state of Florida is also facilitating distribution of federal unemployment benefits being given out through the CARES Act. This will mean the state’s unemployment system will also have to handle applications from those that will qualify under the federal plan, but not the state’s plan, as well.

State leaders however, have not said what they’re doing in the immediate moment to help people facing mounting bills and little help to get unemployment benefits in hand.

Critics argue the state has long been warned about the failures of the system. Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani told Spectrum News that problems were known as far back as 2014 under former Gov. Rick Scott.

Eskamani also points to a 2019 Inspector General report, outlining hundreds of issues with the state’s unemployment application system.

When a reporter asked DeSantis why, when given warning in 2019, did he not lead fixes to the system, the governor said, “Talks to the Department of Economic Opportunity. I’m not exactly sure what they did or did not do, but when I deal with it in terms of personnel, we kept more personnel than was needed at the time, in a situation with a 3% unemployment rate.”

Ken Lawson, Executive Director of Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, scheduled to speak with Spectrum News on Wednesday, but aides said the interview had to be canceled.

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.

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.