11 rehired to help with jobless claims

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) -- The Department of Labor and Training is bringing back 11 laid off employees.

Officials say the workers will help staff the Unemployment Insurance Call Center, which has been overwhelmed with nearly 28,000 claims per week for all unemployment insurance programs.

• DLT Layoffs Lead to Long Waits
• RI Unemployment at 10.2%

There have been numerous complaints from people who have been unable to get through to the unemployment office over the phone.

"We understand that we need more people in the call center to handle the current volume of Unemployment Insurance claims," Director Charles Fogarty said. "Hopefully, this latest influx of trained and knowledgeable staff will help us improve our customer service."

In July of last year , one third of the department's unemployment insurance staffers were laid off because of reduced federal funding. Since then, 33 workers have been rehired. However, those positions are considered temporary and funded through September 2013.