This 916-654-8210 number seems to be meant for the director of the California Employment Development Department, not as a number for the public to reach a regular customer service representative.
When you call the number, the message you get explicitly warns you that the staff of the director's office does not have access to the information about your claim or anything about your benefits. If you need any of this information, the message tells you that you need to visit the website for specific information.
To its credit, the system does offer a way to connect to the actual unemployment office's number, although this appears to connect to either the 24-hour automated number or the main number.
When I dialed the number, I was given the choice of English or Spanish and moved to the automated system for filing an unemployment claim. The system told me that the website offers the fastest way to process an unemployment claim, but it said that I could continue to process my claim through the phone if I chose.
In order to do so, I would need to enter my Social Security number, as well as provide a few personal details to confirm that I was eligible to file an unemployment claim in California. If I couldn't provide all of those details, the system told me that I would have to call back another time and would need to do so before the end of the week in order to process my claim. As I did not have any of this information, I opted to end the call there.
Overall, calling this number seems to do nothing but add an unneeded step to reaching a customer service representative. Perhaps this number was once an effective way to reach a live voice, but that no longer seems to be the case.
If this number is the only one that a person can remember, it can work to get you to where you need to go. It might take longer than calling the newer numbers directly, but it can at least still direct you to the appropriate number and get you started on filing your claim.
However, there are faster ways for a client to get connected with someone and get the assistance they need. Either calling one of the main numbers or going online would both be more effective than using this number, which only takes you through an extra menu before helping you to the right one.
Because of the extra work involved, I would not recommend using this number for assistance, even if you have a bona fide unemployment claim.