In the early part of this decade, spurred by the global pandemic, state and municipal governments faced sudden and dramatic increases in the need for public services. Dozens of state and local agencies found their legacy systems and technologies falling woefully short. Many still struggle to catch up.
Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL), grappling with an outdated unemployment insurance system, turned the challenge into an opportunity to revolutionize its infrastructure and reimagine public services.
Originally built in the late 1970s, Kansas’ legacy mainframe unemployment insurance system was ill-equipped to handle the surging volume of claims, the complexities of federal pandemic-related programs, and the increase in fraudulent requests.
Like many state and municipal leaders at the time, Kansas Secretary of Labor Amber Shultz and her team recognized the urgent need to stabilize the agency’s operations, empower its agents, secure its systems, and restore faith in a critical public service.
“I always try to think of how we operate through the eyes of the customer, whether that’s a business, a claimant, or a citizen. I strive for a customer-centric experience,” said Shultz.
To bring this improved customer experience to fruition, Kansas sought to transform its outdated system into an agile, nimble, customer-centric digital platform with enterprise technology solutions.
Discover how Kansas partnered with TCS to rapidly modernize its outdated unemployment insurance system, achieving the fastest implementation in US history. This transformation improved claim processing times by 80%, reduced fraud, and empowered users with intuitive self-service tools. Learn how technology and urgency came together to rebuild trust in a vital public service.
Antiquated legacy systems pose a variety of challenges for state and municipal governments: Such systems are prone to breakdowns and usually cannot combat the constant evolution in cybersecurity threats and fraudulent activities.
Individuals in the state found themselves struggling with a system that offered virtually no self-service options, while KDOL staff navigated manual processes and archaic user interfaces. The state’s customer service representatives had to have four or five screens up at a time to be able to navigate a single claim, and call resolutions could take up to 30 minutes. The pandemic amplified these difficulties, exposing the system’s inability to handle the increased volume of calls and the rapid release of federal programs.
When Kansas Governor Laura Kelly appointed Shultz secretary of labor in January 2021, she tasked Shultz with fixing this problem. “I think the pandemic showed all of our stakeholders that this was a system that needed to be modernized, and it needed to be continually modernized,” said Shultz. That’s when Kansas tapped Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to bring the state’s unemployment insurance experience into the 21st century.
Amber Shultz
Kansas Secretary of Labor
In 2018, the [Kansas] unemployment system actually was listed as one of the highest risk systems within state government, and there were a couple of reasons behind that, The first one was that it was originally built in the late 1970s. The other reason was there had been a couple of attempts to upgrade the system throughout the years, but none of them ever came to fruition.
Robert Kane
Vice president, U.S. Public Services, TCS North America
“One of the things that everyone understands when going through a transformational change like we did with Kansas is that the people, the work that the people do, and the technology people use are all interdependent. The goal is not to implement a system, but to implement technology that enables a new way of working and how the agency supports the constituents it serves.
For the State of Kansas, this collaborative effort led to the fastest unemployment insurance modernization in U.S. history, with a new system going live in just 29 months. This rapid deployment was a testament to the shared commitment of both parties to serve the citizens and businesses of Kansas.
The partnership between Kansas and TCS yielded profound benefits. With the new system, call answer rates improved to nearly 100 percent, compared to answering only 20 to 50 percent of calls during the pandemic. Resolution times also decreased to approximately three minutes from the original 25–30 minutes. The system’s human-centric design empowers claimant self-service, improving efficiency and independence
Designed for continual adaptation, the new unemployment insurance platform allows Kansas to strategically add new components and forms as technology evolves, enabling the department of labor to swiftly incorporate new programs or protocols. The platform also significantly strengthened security defenses, supporting quick pivots to detect and prevent fraudulent activities, and has minimized improper payments (legitimate payments made for the wrong amount), providing greater accuracy and protecting both claimants and the state.
“To have TCS with us as partners and walk our stakeholders through that journey was incredibly beneficial,” said Shultz. “Once we signed that contract, they were not gone. They were right alongside us every time, every step of the way.”
The new system also provides Kansas with powerful business analytics capabilities, offering accurate and timely data to help the state forecast economic trends well into the future. “It is my commitment that we are going to be perpetually adapting, upgrading, and adding different components to the system to make sure that it benefits claimants and employers for years to come,” said Shultz. “This project shows other states that Kansas is a trailblazer when it comes to providing high-end, stable, agile technology services to both the citizens and the business community of Kansas.”
Kansas’ IT modernization project is not merely a technological upgrade but a true shift in how the state supports its citizens and businesses. “Because it was such a successful launch, we are able to see further into the future than we ever were before with the old system,” said Shultz. “With this new TCS system, we can imagine the limitless technology that is out there. Some of the things that we were looking for include AI, additional fraud detection, and business analytics.”
“We believe that the community is the ultimate stakeholder,” said Kane. “As we work with businesses and governments in the State of Kansas, we want to create an environment that is good for the community so that we can attract individuals to come live and work here because of the quality of life and the opportunities.”
As Kansas continues to refine and expand its digital public services, TCS remains an indispensable partner, ensuring that the citizen experience remains at the center of an ever-evolving public landscape. Together, Kansas and TCS are building a legacy of resilient, responsive, citizen-centric governance that will serve its constituents for years to come.