The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said Monday that its unemployment-insurance program is being reorganized to concentrate on customer service, a move that will reduce its workforce by as many as 50 jobs.
Ellen Golombek, the department’s executive director, said that while some positions will be eliminated, the reorganization will increase the number of staff adjudicating unemployment claims from 108 to more than 140 and the number of staff answering phones from about 34 to more than 50.
“The goal is to focus on customer service,” said Golombek.
She said the reorganization has been guided by economic realities and a need to improve performance in the unemployment-insurance program.
The Unemployment Insurance division employs roughly 600 people. Its post-reorganization head count won’t be known until October because of attrition and bumping rights, Golombek said.
But she estimated the jobs of between 20 and 50 individuals will be eliminated.
“I want to be clear, it’s not direct apples-to-apples,” she said. “We are eliminating some positions and creating new positions.”
Since October, 78 people in the unemployment division have left, including those who retired or found other jobs.
The unemployment-insurance program’s workload has experienced significant increases. In July 2008, prior to the recession, there were 30,000 people on unemployment insurance. A year later, that grew to 135,000 and has remained at “unprecedented levels,” according to the department. In July, the figure was 102,000.
Officials said the state received one-time federal funding during the recession to increase staff, but that money has run out and the 600-employee level isn’t sustainable.
As for the reorganization, Golombek said that by increasing the number of staff adjudicating claims, they can be resolved more quickly and accurately.
With more staff answering phones, the number of calls taken each week will jump 25 percent to more than 2,000, she said.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
