According to the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services (DWS), all unemployment services, including the Wyoming Unemployment Insurance System Online Portal (WYUI), will be unavailable from May 16 at 3 p.m. through May 23 due to a computer system upgrade.
The upgrade will add an online Unemployment Insurance Tax System to the WYUI, which will make Wyoming the first state to host both its benefits and tax systems in the Microsoft Azure Cloud.
The previous system, which was housed on a mainframe computer running programs written in the 1980s, did not have self-service capabilities and was not accessible online. In addition, the system required a COBOL programmer to run, and all the department’s qualified technicians were approaching retirement.
In a press release, DWS Director Robin Sessions Cooley said the upgrade would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the department’s unemployment insurance staff.
“What they’ve accomplished is really remarkable. The entire unemployment insurance team worked countless hours with software developers, vendors, and other states to ensure they were crafting an effective solution that would be in place for years to come.”
The claimant side of the system was opened last year, allowing workers filing for unemployment insurance benefits to do so completely online. With the tax system launch, employers will have the ability to file reports, authorize payments, file appeals, and make account changes online.
“It was vitally important to us that we built a sustainable, efficient, effective platform for the end user,” Cooley said. “At the end of the day, we’re here to serve the citizens of Wyoming and having a modern unemployment insurance system allows us to do that in an efficient manner.”
Cooley said the new cloud-based system can be replicated to allow other states to adopt a similar solution.
