Florida signs $119M in contracts to fix troubled unemployment website, call center amid coronavirus

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, which operates the state’s unemployment benefits system, has signed contracts totaling $119 million in a three-week period attempting to handle the influx of coronavirus unemployment-related calls and applications, department spending shows.

 
News 6 submitted a public records request for recent spending since Florida’s unemployment rate spiked in March due to coronavirus closures and furloughs. By April 3, the department spent $25 million in two weeks on contracts for call center services, computers and phone systems.

As of Monday morning, the department has spent $119.1 million since March 28 to massively increase its call center capacity, develop a mobile-friendly application site, purchase computer hardware and software and buy data management software, among other services.

More than $100 million of that spending was split between several large contracts for call center services.