Many unemployed workers retooling and retraining

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Early in 2008, the Career Connection Center at Yakima Valley Community College had more than sufficient funding.

Under its dislocated worker program, which provides education for those affected by a mass layoff, participants receive tuition and funds for books and fees for one quarter of the school year. Because there was available funding, some students were able to get aid for an additional quarter.

Extra funding won't be an option now with the center working to provide aid to more jobless workers.

It helped 93 laid-off workers during the fall quarter of the 2008-2009 year, compared with just 30 workers during the same period a year ago.

Over the past year, the center has counseled out-of-work people from companies throughout the Yakima Valley, including Pactiv Corp., Irwin Research and Hertz Car Sales.

The center is busy helping retrain these employees for new careers. In addition, it has helped people who were recently laid off by Boeing.

Demand for such services is unlikely to ease.

"Every time I have an appointment with someone, they're from a different company," said Carol Wilson, industry coordinator for public service careers at the workforce education division of Yakima Valley Community College.

With Yakima County's unemployment rate just under double digits -- that rate jumped to 9.9 percent in December 2008 from 7.9 percent in December 2007 -- everyone from local job-search coaches to state Employment Security is trying to provide information and resources to help those without jobs find work during the national recession.

Where are the jobs?

Though many companies are laying off workers, there are still several sectors looking for workers, according a recent state Employment Security Department report.

The report looked at historical data to determine industries that have been resilient through times of economic downturn. It also analyzed the expansion and contraction of other industries.

The report listed education, health services and government and strong industries.

Kathy Franz, director of human resources at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, which employs 2,060 workers, not including doctors and volunteers, said there's nationwide demand for workers to fill physical and occupational therapist positions as well as support positions like medical coders and medical technicians.

Mary Ayala, chief economist for the state Employment Security Department, recommends that workers consider whether their existing skills and career experience transfer into a more stable industry.

At Memorial, workers are sought for work in information technology and food and business services.

"There's a lot of departments that we staff where people aren't nurses, doctors and technicians," Franz said.

Getting the training

At Perry Technical Institute, classes for two-year programs beginning in March have been full for several weeks. And one program that begins in June -- electrical technology-- is already full.

The job placement rate for the 436 students who graduated from the school between February 2007 and December 2008 is 89 percent, according to the school's figures. Some sectors, such as electrical technology and instrumentation, have placement rates in the 90 to 100 percent range.

Enrollment at work-force training programs at 34 community and technical colleges throughout the state, including YVCC, was 6,284 full-time equivalent students during the fall quarter of 2008, an increase of 28 percent from the previous year, according to the state Board of Community and Technical Colleges.

While not surprising, the boost in enrollment makes for a diverse group of students.

A class at Perry Tech includes high school graduates as well as workers in their 50s, President Christine Cote said.

The programs offered at both YVCC and Perry Technical Institute focus on sectors in high demand, such as information technology and communication systems, where students are trained to install and maintain computer equipment, and allied health technology, where students are trained for jobs like medical assistant and pharmacy technician.

Like many others, Laury Farino made the choice to go back to school.

In the summer of 2006, the 40-year-old and her daughter moved from Dallas to Yakima to take care of her brother.

A few months later, Farino, who has worked in mostly administrative jobs, decided to make another change -- she enrolled in Yakima Valley Community College to train for a medical coding career.

She has already completed her medical coding training but stayed an extra quarter to earn her associate's degree. She will receive her degree in March.

She said she was nervous at first about going back to school but said she's glad that she did it.

"I never went to college after high school -- you're young and dumb and you think the world is at your feet and that you will do many things and that doors open left and right," Farino said. "The biggest message is that college is important. I believe that I will have a larger playing field because I have two years of college experience."

Working the job market

Getting a job requires more than the technical know-how.

At Perry, students punch a clock and can get terminated from the program for an excessive number of absences. The practice is done to illustrate the importance of good attendance.

Students also get the opportunity to apply key job hunting skills.

In one recent assignment, Nathan Hull, department head of Perry's Office Administration Program, had his students pick a company. They would then visit the company to introduce themselves and learn more about what it does.

The exercise was designed to teach students how to network with prospective employers, Hull said.

It's a similar exercise that all job seekers can practice, not just those who are able to go back to school, said Debra Yergen, a Yakima-based author who has written several books on the job market, including the "Creating Job Security Resource Guide."

"People who want to work that badly, that they are willing to invest their time, even without the possibility of job, have a better chance to be the kind of a candidate (that employers want)," she said.

She also recommends that job seekers be open to different job opportunities. One common mistake is that some will not take a job because it's not the most ideal job or the salary is less than what they previously made.

"Just because you take a job that pays less than you've made in the past does not mean you'll be there forever, or two years from now," Yergen said. "You're just doing what you have to do to get by."

* Mai Hoang can be reached at 577-7685 or mhoang@yakimaherald.com.

Where can you get help?

Career Voyages, a government site offering information on high-demand careers and jobs: www.careervoyages.gov.

The state Employment Security report on recession-resilient careers: http://www.workforceexplorer.com/admin/uploadedPublications/9504_2008_4Q_WLM_Wex.pdf

The Career Connection Center at Yakima Valley Community College: 509-574-4977 or http://www.yvcc.edu/programs/CareerConnection.

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