Tech check
Department of Labor ramps up WR KDQGOH ´XQSUHFHGHQWHG¾ WUDIÀF Keila Szpaller keila.szpaller@missoulian.com The weekend of March 21 and 22, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Treasure State with force, and a rush of Montanans newly out of work started filing unemployment claims. To do so, they landed on montanaworks.gov. George Parisot, chief information officer with the Montana Department 14
MISSOULA BUSINESS • SPRING 2020
of Labor and Industry, described the crush of activity from Montanans on the website as “certainly an unprecedented number of folks.� More than 14,000 people applied for unemployment benefits that week in March, up 1,700% from the previous week and 1,917% more than the same week last year, according to the Associated Press. Initially, many ran
into snags, slowdowns and unsuccessful attempts to sign up for benefits. For technology crews with both the Department of Labor and the State Information Technology Services Division, the weekend required “all hands on deck.� It meant scaling up the system to handle the increase in volume while transitioning staff to remote work at the same time.
For those state employees on the job, the tasks at hand were directly connected to the well-being of Montana workers and their families relying on checks. Parisot said roughly 45 people work in the Technology Services Division in the Department of Labor, and 20 of them worked directly on the project to ramp up montanaworks.gov. “It is a big responsibility,� said Parisot,
BEN ALLAN SMITH, Missoulian
XXX, Missoulian
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