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November 3, 2008
The unemployment crunch that is working its way into southeastern Minnesota appears to reach across many industries and types of occupations, counselors for dislocated workers say.
"It's across the board" so far, said Warren Oslin, counselor at Workforce Development Inc., which operates job assistance and job training programs in southeastern Minnesota.
Former store manager Brad Strain of Rochester recently was caught in a retail downsizing. Oslin said he's seen workers from many other occupations holding jobs ranging from laborer to high management.
Among workers Oslin has advised are an electronics quality engineer, a secretary, a restaurant general manager, fork lift operator and others. In short, "It's grassroots right now," Oslin said.
The job losses also are reaching deep into some family's lives, says Kate Johansen, a career counselor at Workforce Development. Theres's an "urgency" and sometime a level of "desperation" in some jjobless workers she's seen, she says. Some already are coming in saying "I can't make my house payment," Johansen describes.
"They just need to realize they're not alone," she says. Being displaced from a job can be a personal crisis. It affects "every aspect of your life," she says.
She and Oslin work with dislocated workers. Workforce Development administers programs for dislocated workers in this area.
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