Harrisburg, PA – Yesterday, Governor Josh Shapiro joined Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Nancy A. Walker, labor leaders, worker advocates, and frontline staff at L&I to highlight the significant improvements the Shapiro Administration has made to Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Compensation (UC) system — making it faster, more reliable, and easier for workers to access.
From day one, Governor Shapiro has been laser-focused on delivering results for Pennsylvanians and speeding up government — and fixing an overwhelmed unemployment compensation system that failed too many workers during the pandemic was a top priority. The Shapiro Administration has built a “no wrong door” approach to UC services, ensuring Pennsylvanians can get help by phone, email, online chat, or in-person at PA CareerLink® centers.
When the Governor took office, more than 40,000 pandemic-era claims and 34,000 pandemic-era fraud reports were still backlogged, and workers trying to call the UC service center often had to wait more than an hour — or call back more than 10 times — just to get help.
Under the leadership of Secretary Walker and Unemployment Compensation Deputy Secretary Maria Macus, just seven months after the Governor took office, the UC team eliminated the entire backlog of claims. Since then, L&I has implemented a series of reforms to make it easier for Pennsylvanians to access the UC system, including:
- The lowest call wait times in more than six years — dropping from well over an hour to under 10 minutes on average
- Hiring nearly 400 new UC interviewers to answer calls and process claims quickly
- Expanding UC Connect — bringing in-person assistance to CareerLink centers across the Commonwealth, where more than 106,000 Pennsylvanians have already gotten help
- Installing self-service ID verification kiosks in PA CareerLink® centers to make the process faster and more secure
- Creating a new 24/7 secure live chat option to give Pennsylvanians around-the-clock access to help with UC questions
- Responding to emails within 24 hours, cutting wait times dramatically
As a result of these reforms, workers are now able to get help more quickly, access benefits more easily, and trust the system to deliver when they need it most.
See what people are reading and watching about the major improvements to Pennsylvania’s UC system:
- ABC 27: There’s a lot less waiting for one government service in Pennsylvania
- WGAL: Gov. Shapiro touts faster unemployment system with wait times cut to 9 minutes
- PennLive: Pa. unemployment call center wait times back to pre-pandemic lows, labor department reports
- 90.5 WESA: Shapiro touts unemployment office improvements, criticizes Trump voting claims
- FOX 43: Shapiro touts reduced wait times in revamped unemployment system
- WBNG: Governor Josh Shapiro expands Pennsylvania unemployment resources
- New Castle News: Shapiro sticks to issues, dismisses talk about 2026 election
- State Affairs: Gov. Shapiro announces lowest call wait time for UC claims in six years
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