The state unemployment office plans to add another 1,000 call center agents to deal with high volume, a Division of Employment Security spokeswoman said Friday morning.
That will bring the total number of people processing claims at DES to 2,600, spokeswoman Kerry McComber said. Roughly 2,000 of those people will be answering calls. The timeline for adding these workers wasn't immediately clear.
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New jobless claims skyrocketed in North Carolina in mid-March, as soon as the first of several business shut down orders got the governor's signature due to COVID-19.
As of Friday morning, DES said 1,085,276 claims had been filed since March 15.
Nearly all of those were filed online, with fewer than 19,000 taken over the phone. But people often have issues with online filing and need to reach someone for help. Many have reached out to WRAL News over the last month-and-a-half to say they couldn't get through.
Often the volume is so high people get an automatic disconnect. Others reported multi-hour hold times.
The state has tried to respond, adding a private call center to its two regular centers. It's the private center that's now set to expand, McComber said.
The Division has also added a chat function, launched this week, to its website.