Thread by @BrianEntin

“If most people realized the way that this back-end is being handled, they would be even more livid than they are currently."
A state employee spoke to us about what is behind the delays in Florida’s unemployment system. @DCohenNEWS
Fulll story: bit.ly/3bMY7Qc

We agreed to hide his identity because he fears retribution from the state. “Every day, I’m seeing applications that are a month old, three weeks old," he said.
He says there are specific delays with Spanish and Creole-speaking applicants.

The employee told us information has disappeared from the state's computer system -- causing delays.

Work history, he says, was provided on the applications he saw, but sometimes, he discovered the data disappeared from the system even after he entered it.

We reached out to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity to ask about what the employee told us -- but have not gotten a response.

The Department of Economic Opportunity responded to our investigation. Here is what they said:
‘PEGA’ SYSTEM:
-They have not seen issues with it being down
-Some state employees working from home do not have enough internet bandwidth to complete the work

PAPER APPLICATIONS:
-Received a huge influx right away (nearly 150,000 the first weekend) and there were early delays
-They have always been clear paper applications would take longer to process

SPANISH/CREOLE APPLICATIONS:
-They have translators but need more
-Willing to hire certified translators