EDD signs no-bid contract to run phone center during coronavirus crisis
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
The state Employment Development Department has signed a no-bid contract to run the agency's expanded phone center during economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus crisis.
Two weeks ago, KCRA 3 spoke with unemployment applicants who said the call center was answered by people in other states. One even said the person on the phone didn't know how California's unemployment payments were made.
Now, records obtained by KCRA 3 show that EDD agreed to pay more than $11 million to Deloitte Consulting to hire those employees. The contract started in April and goes through June.
Deloitte is supposed to supply 500 call center employees, allowing them to be independent contractors or subcontractors. All call center operators are supposed to be trained using EDD materials.
The contract was approved without other bids due to emergency orders signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in March. They also created a “chat bot” to answer online questions and were to track social media about EDD during the pandemic.
Deloitte has had other contracts with the agency, including a problematic computer launch several years ago that caused delays in payments.
California's unemployment rate nearly tripled to 15.5% in April as the state lost more jobs in one month than it did during the Great Recession a decade ago. More than 5 million Californians have filed for unemployment benefits since March.
https://www.kcra.com/article/edd-signs-no-bid-contract-to-run-phone-center-coronavirus/32662457
Grewsom pays $11M to OUT OF STATE CONTRACTORS when his own state is imploding.