Oregon Shares Action Plan for Strengthening State’s Public Workforce System

The Oregon Employment Department (OED) has shared an action plan that includes more than 100 steps designed to improve customer service and strengthen Oregon’s public workforce system.

At the direction of Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, OED conducted a review of the Oregon government customer experience across contributions and recovery, WorkSource Oregon and Frances Online, OED’s online system for unemployment insurance and paid leave benefits.

According to an OED statement, the resulting Customer Service and Workforce Strategies Action Plan includes a prioritized list of 101 customer-focused action steps falling into four main categories: customer service improvements, organizational improvements, improvements to Frances Online and improvements to the public workforce system.

The actions range from short-term initiatives to long-term system changes, with a number of projects determined to the highest and most immediate priorities, including:

• Using AI-assisted tools to improve customer service and employee workflows for faster workflows for faster resolution of common and complex issues.
• Improving how the agency collects and analyzes data to support well-informed goal setting, process improvement and accountability.
• Consolidating Title I and Title III Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) administration and funding within OED to improve efficiency and accountability within Oregon’s public workforce system.

A plan summary, a categorized list of prioritized actions, and the full action plan are available on the OED website. The department will continue to share progress updates and engage with customers, partners and the public as it moves forward with the plan.

“This action plan reflects OED’s deep commitment to improving the services we provide,” OED Director Andrew R. Stolfi said in a statement. “It draws from our strengths and is centered on the customer experience, which is where our focus will remain.”