JSECs represent all 100 counties and serve as an advisory group to each local office. The majority of employers indicated they appreciate ESC's technological advances, and preferred to explore the use of e-mail or the Internet for a variety of services. Millions of dollars are being spent worldwide to make computers year 2000 compatible. ESC has just completed a new upgrade for the year 2000, allowing the agency to properly process the more than one billion dollars in wage data it receives each year. The latest computer system affects the tax and wage records of almost every employee and business in North Carolina.
Employers report wage data and pay unemployment insurance taxes to ESC each quarter.
The software upgrades activated the last week in February assure those programs will be viable when the calendar changes from the year 1999 to 2000. We will be able to continue to pay, benefits and deal with employers in a rational way into the next century. The date on the calendar will read 2000, but computer software will not necessarily interpret it that way. The 00 is greater than 99, but the system won't process it that way unless it is corrected. ESC has identified at least 30 large and small computer applications in the agency that must be upgraded before the year 2000.