ORLANDO, Fla. — Some call-center workers taking unemployment-related calls for the state of Florida are themselves no longer at that job.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity ended its call center service contract with Titan Technologies/Kforce weeks ahead of the scheduled end date of June 30, 2021.

In a statement to Spectrum News, DEO cited declining demand and dissatisfaction with services provided.

“During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department prioritized scaling up Reemployment Assistance Customer Service Center staff, which included third-party contractors, to assist with the significant increase in call volume made to the Reemployment Assistance Customer Service Centers,” DEO said in a statement. “The Department previously planned to eventually phase out all third-party contracted staff as call volume continued to decrease due to the economic turnaround post-pandemic.”

When the new budget year begins July 1, Florida DEO is slated to receive $92.4 million in state and federal funds, of which the agency says it will use to “…modernize the state’s unemployment system…to provide a more user-friendly experience for claimants apply for Reemployment Assistance benefits, as well as hire 435 additional Reemployment Assistance staff members to assist with call center support and processing claims.”

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Dane Eagle warned lawmakers in March that it would take up to $244 million over five years to fully address the system failures.

RELATED: Florida Unemployment Benefits: Changes Explained

The new budget will allow DEO to fold call center support services into internal agency operations, and away from having to rely on third party companies. 

“Currently, the Department has over 1,300 Reemployment Assistance staff working to make sure all eligible claimants are paid the benefits they are owed as quickly as possible,” DEO said in a statement (full statement provided at the bottom of this article). “Utilizing internal DEO employees, instead of contracted call center staff, will allow these employees to better assist claimants with any issues.”

DEO is still using a third party contractor, Lighthouse, to provide call center service through the Unique Abilities Partner Program.

Florida’s Accountability Contract Tracking System shows DEO paid Titan Technologies/KForce at least $152 million for services provided since April 2020.

The contract called for DEO to pay Titan $34.50 per hour for each call center agent. According to state records, KForce recorded:

175,880 billable hours for the month ending April 30, 2021

115,125 billable hours for the month ending May 31, 2021

69,475 billable hours for the month ending June 30, 2021

While the numbers shows declining demand, many say it could be in part because they simply couldn’t get through.

Ending the deal with Titan Technologies/KForce is not going unnoticed.

In recent days and weeks, a growing number of people have reached out to Spectrum News and posted on social media about the inability to get through to call centers, even after waiting hours on hold.

Without going into detail, DEO did say in a statement about Titan Technologies: “…the Department was not planning to extend this contract. However, the Department was not fully satisfied with the work the company was providing and so, because of performance issues, the Department has chosen to end this contract early.”

“Of course they are going to blame Titan, but our hands were tied,” one now laid off Titan call center agent told Spectrum News, who asked to remain anonymous. “We did our best with the resources we were given. It hurt to hear so many claimants suffer from job loss, eviction, utility shut off, living in their cars with their children or living in parks. I understand there are policies and procedures, however we should have been able to work around the clock to resolve the issues that plagued Floridians.”

For months, agents employed by KForce have shared insights about what they call the disfunction inside call centers. Even as early as May 2020, agents described ‘chaos and confusion’ inside the centers, where they say DEO restricted agents’ abilities from being able to properly address claim issues. 

“Titan Technologies is proud to have served the citizens of Florida during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic,” a company spokesperson told Spectrum News in a statement. “The service provided by our agents has helped millions of Florida residents process their reemployment claims. Over the past 15 months, call volumes have continued to drop and FL DEO has developed a plan to shift the call center operations from contractor to Government staff. While we cannot continue to support our agents on this contract, we are proud of the services we provided and look forward to supporting the State of Florida and FL DEO in the future.”

The company did not respond to follow questions about DEO’s assertions the agency was dissatisfied with KForce’s services.

In April 2020, DEO announced it would spend – at that point – up to $110 million to hire three third party companies to provide call center services. A review found as a surge of claims came in at the start of the pandemic in Florida, a majority of more than 1 million calls to the agency for help went unanswered. 

Three months later, in July 2020, DEO abruptly ended contracts with two of the providers, AECOM and United Data Technologies.

DEO told Spectrum News in a July 2020 statement that it was dissatisfied with the services provided.

“The Department is prioritizing vendors who have fully trained representatives to handle all claimant issues and are more proficient in the CONNECT system, are meeting or exceeding contractual performance expectations, and providing high-quality customer service to Floridians,” DEO said in a July 2020 statement. “Vendors who are not providing as high-quality services will not continue to provide services at this time.”

For its part, DEO continues to say that it is working to address claim issues as quickly as possible – even as there remain substantial complaints from people who say they’ve waited months for benefits and claim fixes. 

DEO STATEMENT

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department prioritized scaling up Reemployment Assistance Customer Service Center staff, which included third-party contractors, to assist with the significant increase in call volume made to the Reemployment Assistance Customer Service Centers. The Department previously planned to eventually phase out all third-party contracted staff as call volume continued to decrease due to the economic turnaround post-pandemic, as reported in several articles such as this one and this one. Secretary Dane Eagle previously stated in November 2020, “Since, as I mentioned the claims are coming down week by week, we’re looking to offload that and eventually would like to get rid of the call centers completely.” As a follow up to that commitment, the Department’s contract with Titan was set to expire on June 30, and the Department was not planning to extend this contract. However, the Department was not fully satisfied with the work the company was providing and so, because of performance issues, the Department has chosen to end this contract early.

 

 As part of the state’s 2021-2022 budget that Governor DeSantis recently signed, $92.4 million in state and federal funds is being provided for continued operations and to modernize the state’s unemployment system. This funding will allow DEO to provide a more user-friendly experience for claimants applying for Reemployment Assistance benefits, as well as hire 435 additional Reemployment Assistance staff members to assist with call center support and processing claims. Currently, the Department has over 1,300 Reemployment Assistance staff working to make sure all eligible claimants are paid the benefits they are owed as quickly as possible. Utilizing internal DEO employees, instead of contracted call center staff, will allow these employees to better assist claimants with any issues.

Economic factors, such as the state’s low unemployment rate of 4.8 percent and twelve consecutive months of job growth, show that Floridians are returning to work. As such, the Department has phased out all third-party contractors that previously provided call center support, except for Lighthouse. The Department currently contracts with third-party contractor, Lighthouse, for Reemployment Assistance Customer Service Center support through the Unique Abilities Partner Program. You may view contracts, as well as any payments made to these third-party contractors, here.

The Department remains committed to making sure all eligible claimants are paid the benefits they are owed as quickly as possible.

TITAN TECHNOLOGIES / KFORCE STATEMENT

Titan Technologies is proud to have served the citizens of Florida during the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.  The service provided by our agents has helped millions of Florida residents process their reemployment claims.  Over the past 15 months, call volumes have continued to drop and FL DEO has developed a plan to shift the call center operations from contractor to Government staff.  While we cannot continue to support our agents on this contract, we are proud of the services we provided and look forward to supporting the State of Florida and FL DEO in the future.