What happens when unemployment goes up - Washington ESD claim processing changes?

When unemployment spikes, Washington ESD usually gets overwhelmed. More claims = longer wait times for everything. During COVID they had to bring in contractors just to handle the volume.

Higher unemployment affects several things: 1) More initial claims filed 2) More weekly claims to process 3) Increased adjudication workload 4) Higher appeal volumes. Washington ESD tries to scale up but it takes time to train new staff on UI systems.

I was struggling with this exact situation last month - couldn't get through to Washington ESD for weeks to check on my adjudication status. Finally used claimyr.com and got connected to an agent the same day. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. Turns out my claim just needed one document I didn't know about.

The unemployment rate affects more than just processing times. When it goes up, Washington ESD also sees increases in: fraud attempts, benefit duration extensions, job search waiver requests, and standby claims from seasonal workers.

ugh tell me about it... been trying to file my weekly claim for 3 days now and the website keeps crashing. this is ridiculous

Another thing that happens is the job search requirements sometimes get modified. During high unemployment periods, Washington ESD might reduce the number of required job contacts or extend deadlines.

The worst part is when unemployment goes up, so does the number of scam calls pretending to be from Washington ESD. I got 5 fake calls last week asking for my Social Security number.

I used that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier and finally got through to Washington ESD today. Agent told me that when unemployment spikes, they do hire temporary staff but it takes 6-8 weeks to train them on the UI system. So there's always a lag between increased claims and increased processing capacity.

Same thing happened during the 2008 recession. Took Washington ESD almost a year to fully staff up for the increased volume. Meanwhile people were waiting months for their claims.

Higher unemployment also means more people appealing disqualifications because they're more desperate for benefits. This creates a backlog at the hearing level too.

One positive thing - when unemployment is high, Washington ESD sometimes gets additional federal funding to improve their systems and hire more staff. But like others said, there's always a delay before you see the benefits.

Don't forget about the ripple effects too. When unemployment goes up, more people are eligible for extended benefits, more people need help with job searches through WorkSourceWA, and more people are applying for other assistance programs.

the whole system is just broken when unemployment spikes... spent 4 hours on hold yesterday just to get disconnected. WHY can't they just answer the phone??

Washington ESD also sees more fraud when unemployment goes up. People get desperate and try to file fake claims, which means more resources go to investigations instead of legitimate claims.

I work in HR and we've noticed Washington ESD requests for employment verification go way up when unemployment spikes. Sometimes they're backed up on processing those too, which delays claim approvals.

Another impact is that when unemployment is high, more people are filing partial claims while working reduced hours. These are more complex to process than simple unemployed/employed situations.

The good news is Washington ESD has gotten better at predicting unemployment spikes and preparing for them. They have contingency plans now that they didn't have 10-15 years ago.

I've been tracking this for my economics class and Washington unemployment went from 3.8% to 5.2% in just 3 months. That's a huge increase in claims volume.

Bottom line - when unemployment goes up, expect longer waits for everything related to Washington ESD. Filing, adjudication, appeals, phone calls, even getting your debit card can take longer.

If you're still having trouble getting through to Washington ESD, that Claimyr service really does work. I was skeptical at first but it saved me so much time and frustration.