The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry is swamped and desperately trying to accommodate people after recent job cuts.

 

People are fed up after the Altoona Unemployment Compensation Center shut its doors in November, leaving over 100 Altoona employees without a job and statewide, 600 state employees let go.

 

Now people trying to get their unemployment benefits claim they’re not able to reach anyone in the office or remain on hold for hours.

 

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry said after the senate denied a bill requesting over $57.5 million, they had no choice but to cut down on staff – a decision the labor and industry secretary called disappointing and disgraceful.

 

Senator John Eichelberger, Jr. said the department had four years to be proactive and prevent such a big loss and that the Altoona location played a big part in the organization and shutting it down was not the right decision to make.

 

“Nobody in private business would say ‘our most productive plant is this one right here and we have to downsize so we’re gonna close that plant,’ you would not close your most productive, you would not shutdown your most productive people,” Eichelberger, Jr. said. “You keep them operational and you shutdown others that weren’t as productive. That’s just what everybody else would do, but that isn’t what they did here.”

 

The state’s department of labor and industry recognizes the delays and responded directly to the public on Facebook, reassuring callers who are only getting a busy tone that phones are being answered, but staff levels are down 50 percent.

 

A woman in our region, who said she’s waited on hold and tried to reach out to her local representative, said nothing seems to help.