AUSTIN (KXAN) — Alejandro Espinoza had his headset ready in the Texas Workforce Commission’s El Paso call center Tuesday.
But this time he answered questions from concerned Texans on Twitter and Facebook — in Spanish.
“We have seen a tremendous increase in the workload,” Espinoza said. “This is unprecedented, we have never seen anything like this, including other natural disasters.”
Espinoza is the operations coordinator for the agency’s El Paso call center.
On Tuesday afternoon, both he and TWC spokesman Cisco Gamez answered questions in both English and Spanish on everything from forgetting your PIN to the extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits as part of the federal CARES Act.
For some Texans, however, making sure the agency has everything they need to process a claim is frustrating.
Take, Scott Banks, for example. He works two days a week — down from five — as a laundry attendant at the Comfort Suites hotel in south Austin.
He says his “biggest frustration” is making sure the TWC employee he’s talking to has his pay stubs to process his unemployment claim. But playing phone tag means he’s either working when the agency calls him back, or vice versa.
“I don’t have my phone glued to my ear,” he said.
Banks, who says he only has three or four more months of rent “under my belt,” may have to file another claim if his current claim is rejected.
As for the TWC, the agency said Tuesday that more than 1.5 million Texans have filed for employment.
The call volume remains staggering, with “up to three million calls” in a 24-hour period, according to Gamez. Since the week ending April 11, more than $1.2 billion have been paid out in unemployment benefits.
Take a look at the full Q&A below:
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