Job Center: Eager Workers, Employers on the Hunt
By SHERRI CRUZ
When Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was readying to open its Huntington Beach store in 2002, it turned to the Orange County One-Stop Center, a government-run jobs service in Costa Mesa.
The center lent Wal-Mart recruiters an office and a room to interview,and eventually hire,250 workers.
“Normally we’d go to a hotel or rent a room,” said John Groth, general manager for Wal-Mart in Huntington Beach.
The center, which links employers with jobseekers, also screened candidates for Wal-Mart. The Huntington Beach store still hires workers through the center, Groth said.
“It works great for us,” he said.
Groth isn’t alone. Wisconsin-based retailer Kohl’s Corp. hired 2,400 people through the center to staff eight of the 28 Southland stores it opened on the same day in 2003. Home Depot Inc. has held job fairs at the center.
Employers swear by the center as a cheap source of ready and willing workers. With the expanding economy, the center could be poised to play a key role for businesses looking to hire again and for displaced workers looking to get back on their feet.
The center, run by Coastline Community College, is a jobseekers’ hangout. It offers employment help for just about everyone and has specialized services for young jobseekers, veterans and seniors.
Many of the jobseekers recently have been laid off and have been referred to the center by their employers. Many companies tap the center for outplacement services.
Under the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification law, California requires larger companies laying off 50 or more workers to give 60 days’ written notice. The law was designed to give workers time to get retrained or find another job.
Others come to the center for their own reasons.
Donald Appel is 75 and semi-retired. He said he’s been looking for a technical writing position while at the center. After teaching English to executives in Mexico for $25 an hour, Appel said he’d rather work in OC where his son lives.
The center affords him a chance to look for jobs on the Internet and to make phone calls, Appel said.
Others, such as Sallie Matonis, are changing careers. She worked in law for 15 years and now is training to be a schoolteacher.
Matonis said she’s taken the center’s resume writing workshop and uses the Internet. She said she goes to the center every day after church.
“When you’re used to going to an office, it helps keep you organized,” she said.
Doreen Hart, area recruiting manager for Marriott International Inc. in South County, hires for 13 hotels and has about 50 openings at any given time.
“There’s always a need for housekeepers,” she said.
Hart said she’s also looking for three concierges going into what is shaping up to be a busy summer. Marriott looks for “people who see serving as a profession,” Hart said, as well as flexibility and basic computer skills.
Marriott has a standing appointment on the first Wednesday of every month to interview jobseekers onsite at the center.
“It’s a willing labor pool,” Hart said. “They want to work.”
Jobseekers at the center can brush up on their interviewing skills or update their resumes. Along with resume writing, the center offers weekly workshops such as Internet job hunting.
It’s also an office of sorts. Jobseekers can use the phones, computers, fax and copy machines for free. About 180 people come through the center a day, said Leo Delgadillo, employment program manager with the state’s Employment Development Depart-ment, who’s stationed at the center.
Jobseekers also can file for unemployment benefits at the center. If eligible, they can get other kinds of help such as gas vouchers or money for childcare. Many of the center’s workers are bilingual.
The center is funded by the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1988, which offers employment development services via statewide and local groups. The center also gets state and county funding.
Along with officials from the Employment Development Department, representatives from Coastline Community College work at the center and recommend courses if a worker is eligible for training.
While many of the workers placed through the center have limited skills, technical or managerial types also come through, according to Delgadillo of the Employment Development Department.
But they’re often the hardest to place, he said.
“Many people are overqualified,” Del-gadillo said.
They may end up dumbing down their credentials to get a job, he said. There never is a 100% match between those out of work and those looking for workers, according to Delgadillo.
Michael Sawitz, chief executive of Amailcenter Franchise Corp. in Irvine, said he found one of his executives through the center.
Amailcenter’s business adviser, who has been with the company for nearly two years, helps franchisees set up AIM Mail Centers that offer mailing and business services.
“He’s doing exceptional,” Sawitz said.
Sawitz said he found out about the center through a story he read in a local magazine.
“I called and two hours later they were in my office saying: ‘How can we help you?'” he said.
The center saves Amailcenter money on classified advertising, Sawitz said.
“Every time we have a need, they just start sending people over,” he said.
John Duran, who lives in Costa Mesa, said he found his “six-figure” job as a reliability engineer at Raytheon Co.’s El Segundo office through the center.
Aerospace is booming these days, but the industry is cyclical. And Duran, an engineer with 39 years of experience, said he has seen his share of layoffs.
During those times, the center served as his office, Duran said. He would be there every day, 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., revising his resume, reading wanted ads and working the phones.
“It’s better for me to get out of my house and work there,” he said.
It took him six to seven weeks to get a job, Duran said.
“I was just churning and burning,” he said.
The center serves as an emotional booster for many.
“I needed them for alignment,” Duran said. “A place to go, people to talk to. It’s good for the spirit. You sit at home and it can be pretty bad.”
Dealing With Layoffs: Yellow Book’s Case
A group of workers at Yellow Book USA in Tustin recently gathered in a conference room to find out what was next for them.
Outplacement services, it’s called.
The workers had been notified that their jobs would be cut by the end of May. Spirits were OK, given the situation.
Sometimes that’s not the case, said Bertha Ramirez, employment program representative for the Orange County One-Stop Center in Costa Mesa, a county-run outplacement and jobs resource center.
“There are occasions when people are very upset,” Ramirez said.
But that’s usually because their employer gave them notice that same day, she said. The state requires 60 days written notice for larger companies.
“Most of the time they give plenty of notice,” she said.
In the case of Yellow Book, “They were really, really good,” Ramirez said.
The company offered a bonus to stay on until the end of May and a continuation of salaries for a set amount of time, she said.
Once an employer has notified workers of a pending layoff, Ramirez often is first on the scene.
She is part of the center’s “rapid response team,” which goes out to offer workers help for what comes next,rolling over 401-Ks, finding another job, getting training, help paying for childcare and applying for unemployment.
Lately, the rapid response team has been in demand. Even as the economy picks up, several Orange County companies across various industries continue to lay off workers.
Among the businesses that recently have laid off or plan to in the near future: Kraft Foods Inc. in Buena Park, 235 people; Aerofit Products Inc. in Buena Park, 106 people; Assurant Inc. in Orange, 192 people; Avaya LLC in Tustin, 71 people; and Sanmina-SCI Corp. in Costa Mesa, 110 people.
Recently, it was phone directory publisher Yellow Book’s turn. The Rockville Centre, N.Y.-based company said it will lay off 77 graphic artists and administrative workers in Tustin.
The layoffs are the results of Yellow Book’s January buy of Tustin-based National Directory Co. About 300 workers are set to stay in Tustin.
The center’s rapid response team went out for a meeting at Yellow Book’s Tustin office, where some 20 workers attended. The team included Ramirez, John Stokes, a corporate benefits specialist for MetLife Inc. in Irvine, and Armando Carassco, a state unemployment insurance call center supervisor.
Leslie Whitlinger, business services manager at the Orange County One-Stop Center’s Mission Viejo office, was first to talk to the group.
Along with help finding a job, the center is linked to 26 different social service agencies that can help pay for things such as childcare, gas vouchers, retraining or going back to school.
Many counties don’t have a lot of training dollars left, she said, but OC does.
MetLife’s Stokes told the workers they still have access to health insurance. It’s just now they’ll have to foot the bill.
He also said there are other cheaper options such as gap insurance for people who are relatively healthy.
Ramirez asked if there were any veterans in the room (there was one). Veterans are eligible for certain benefits, she said. Jack Okada at the Costa Mesa center is the veteran employment representative.
Those filing for unemployment insurance have 21 days to post a resume on the state’s CalJOBs Web site, Ramirez said. Employers use the site to find workers.
Job seekers also may be eligible for training assistance, she said. The training assistance doesn’t count against unemployment benefits but workers are required to go to school 20 hours a week, Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Many seemed interested in training. One woman asked if they would pay for a master’s degree. No, they don’t.
Most of the questions were saved for the last speaker, Carassco, who explained unemployment benefits. He warned of how fraud has added a layer to the system. Now, he said, unemployment officers are required to ask who an applicant’s employers were in the past 18 months. Those who can’t answer can see their claim delayed, he said.
The One-Stop centers are funded by the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and administered through the state’s Employment Development Department.
The Costa Mesa office, which manages three other offices, has a $5 million annual budget and a staff of 60.
The cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana have their own dedicated centers.
,Sherri Cruz
