With surging inflation and COVID-19 (and its continued effect on the global supply chain), it hasn't been the easiest few years for the labor and unemployment industry (UI). Time and again, agencies were put into complex and challenging positions where they needed to meet the needs of claimants today while keeping an eye on planning for tomorrow. Legacy unemployment insurance systems have been tested and stressed to the breaking point, and a debate over a national unemployment insurance system has been renewed.

There's the old saying, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) know this difficulty when encouraging healthy, positive behaviors among their members. From completing health assessments to performing wellness tasks, getting members to act on compliance requirements is a costly and time-consuming affair.

Today’s pace of technological advancement is fast. Scary fast. For the IT professional driving the technological equivalent of a Ford Pinto, every road is an entrance to the freeway and one look in the mirror is enough to send shivers down the spine. Obsolescence has a lead foot. It's got the pedal to the metal (so to speak) and it's bearing down on your legacy system like a Mack truck with the high beams on.

Sagitec partners with clients to create innovative solutions that solve unique business problems and adapt to complex, changing environments. No matter your project’s specific needs, our strategy and expertise enable us to help you provide best-in-class service to your members and customers. We take the time to establish clear communication expectations and organize experts to implement projects successfully.  

The platform vs. custom software debate might not be as epic as Microsoft vs. Apple, Nintendo vs. PlayStation, or even Star Wars vs. Star Trek, but it is a comparison worth taking a closer look.

Fraud continues to be a problem for many state workforce agencies. Unemployment claims surged after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This rise in claims also saw a sharp increase in the number of fraudulent payments. The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced its distribution of $500 million to assist states with combating unemployment insurance (UI) fraud and equity challenges.

Employer’s number one concern during the pandemic is ensuring the safety of their employees. For most of the lockdowns, this meant changing workplace policies and enabling more work from home opportunities. Before the pandemic, only 6% of the U.S. workforce worked remotely, and over 75% had never completed work outside the office. During the peak period of lockdowns, 71% of the total U.S. workforce worked from home. These new measures cut down the risk of infection and improved the well-being of employees.

Digital modernization is a never-ending transformation journey. Beyond application modernization and digital integration, the journey requires agencies to challenge the status quo, experiment, adapt, and evolve.

This article was first published in the Association of Canadian Pension Management 2021 Issue 1 Newsletter.

2020 is being called the 'remote work year’ due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But recent surveys from PwC and Gartner show that many companies across multiple industries will move more of their employees to a remote environment over time.

This article was first published in the April release of Benefits and Pension Monitor.

Over the past few years, there has been a significant and noticeable shift in the pension and benefits industry when it comes to systems administering their plans. The demands of organizations have moved from looking for an administration system, or administrator, to a modernization approach. Not only has the shift moved in terms of terminology, but there has been a significant increase in demands to modernize. We, at Sagitec alone, have received more than double the demand for modernization projects in 2020 versus the same period in 2019. What has prompted this shift in wording, increase in demand, and what are the benefits of modernization?