Unemployed doubt upgrades at Workforce Solutions

February 23, 2011

Out-of-work New Mexicans say they still can't get through to Workforce Solutions despite a news release issued Wednesday by Governor Susana Martinez saying that the system has been drastically improved. KOB Eyewitness News 4 revisited an unemployed man featured last month to see what the reality is for people trying to get a hold of the agency. Back in January, Al Lucero was selling his compact discs to make ends meet while waiting to re-file for unemployment. After thousands of tries he had no luck getting Workforce Solutions on the phone. The week after the story aired on KOB, Governor Susana Martinez ordered the agency to hire on more workers, and to keep lines open until 8 p.m. during the week. That was then, but at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, Lucero got an automated message from the department saying that the agency was closed for the day. "That's it, that's what I've gotten for six weeks," Lucero said.