State approves extension of costly call center contract to cope with looming federal layoffs

State approves extension of costly call center contract to cope with looming federal layoffs

The Board of Public Works approved a $3.9 million extension Wednesday of a call center contract ahead of an expected surge of calls from laid-off federal workers, despite concerns about the “Frankenstein-esque” growth of the contract. The five-month extension, which was requested by the Maryland Department of Labor, comes one day after thousands of workers at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services learned they had been laid off. Many o…