Company defends CONNECT website at root of Florida's unemployment claim woes

Deloitte Consulting was among the vendors who sold Florida a $78 million unemployment compensation system that buckled and broke for many thousands of Floridians who tried to file claims after being thrown out of work by the coronavirus pandemic.

Company representatives were called to task on the system's failures in a 2-hour appearance Monday before the Florida Senate's Select Committee on Pandemic Preparedness and Response.

The bottom line: No one including Deloitte, paid $46 million, foresaw the tsunami of unemployment applications that washed over and foundered the system. It was designed to handle unemployment levels produced by the Great Recession over a decade ago – about 10% – but started crashing when the jobless rate exceeded 13%.

Senators used a 95-page Chief Inspector General’s report on the Department of Economic Opportunity’s (DEO) CONNECT system and website to grill John Hugill and Scott Malm, two principals with Deloitte. The firm designed the software and stood up what's known as the "reemployment assistance" program. DEO is the state's jobs agency.

Read more: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/09/company-defends-connect-website-behind-florida-unemployment-claim-woes-senate-pizzo-deloitte/4626851001/