Getting unemployment benefits in Florida is getting easier, Gov. DeSantis says

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — First, they found themselves without a paycheck as the coronavirus pandemic turned thriving businesses into closed down money pits.

Then, the place they turned to for help – wasn’t working.

It was a one-two punch for Florida’s newly unemployed, and thousands upon thousands of them couldn’t even complete step one of the process to file for state jobless benefits. That’s because Connect -- the unemployment website run by Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity – simply couldn’t handle the surge.

Governor Ron DeSantis said on Monday at an economics roundtable the state is well on its way to fixing the problem.

According to the governor, Florida’s Department of Management Services is bringing in 72 new computer servers to boost capacity. The system can now handle 120 thousand people at a time. Previously, only 40-60 thousand could access the site at once.

More than 80 thousand claims were processed in the last week.

DeSantis said the state is also racing to train customer service representatives, and 250 of them started working this morning.

Florida is also teaming up with FedEx to provide place for unemployed people to fill out paper applications, and

The governor said making sure the system works properly is a top priority because of who is being most affected by the economic downturn. He said while white collar workers are now doing their jobs remotely, many lower-paid blue collar workers are the ones just out of a job.

If you need to file for unemployment benefits, you can begin the process here.

RELATED: Florida Gov. DeSantis issues executive order on unemployment

RELATED: Florida's broken unemployment site forces man to log on in the middle of the night -- and it still won't work

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