Job center gains workers
Gazette Staff and Associated Press MADISON A state plan to consolidate its job assistance programs might mean more employees for the Rock County Job Center.
The move comes at a time when Rock County is dealing with downsizing at Janesville’s General Motors plant and layoffs at related businesses such as Lear and LSI.
The county took another hit Friday when ThyssenKrupp, the local manufacturer formerly known as Gilman, announced it would move its local operation to Auburn Hills, Mich., by the end of September. Some ThyssenKrupp employees will be offered transfers, but at least another 160 will lose their jobs.
The state Department of Workforce Development wants to consolidate its job assistance programs into 12 regional sites, pulling staff from dozens of smaller communities and placing them in larger cities.
About 157 employees will be redistributed to 12 sites, including two in Milwaukee and one each in Janesville, Kenosha, Madison, Pewaukee, Green Bay, Menasha, Wausau, Superior, La Crosse, Eau Claire.
The centers rely on federal funding, and cutbacks require the consolidation, said Dick Jones, agency liaison for the department.
Jun 1, 2008 at 1:16 a.m.
Suggest removal
The DWD claims they will upgrade their web services (with a "virtual job center") and be "more mobile" than before at outreach, but your criticisms are echoed by others, SarahB.
:"The action, which will start June 30 and take place throughout the year, will make it harder for veterans, people with disabilities, the unemployed and the underemployed to find jobs and receive other services, advocates said.
:"That's a huge deal," said John Keckhaver, a research analyst with the Council on Children and Families. "It's going to have a significant impact on low-skilled people in the state and other people who are going to need job services."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-a...
It does come across as poor timing. Just as unemployment ticks up, make it harder to get assistance? Who's running this, the VA?
All that said, it does not appear that any of the job centers will completely close, only that some assistance programs will be consolidated. If that's so then the announcement should have made more clear what services will still be available after people are transferred.
Jun 1, 2008 at 12:06 a.m.
Suggest removal
The consolidation plan seems inappropriate. How are newly jobless people to afford the extra fuel needed to get to an area job center? That is, if the newly jobless person even owns a car.
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.