By Christine Ryan Claypool
It was the year 2002. Ohio was reeling from a decline in the manufacturing sector, which left thousands of northwestern Ohio workers unemployed. When the U.S. economy suffers from a recession, states like Ohio that rely heavily upon employment in manufacturing experience the impact first, according to Neal Eiber of Apollo Career Center Adult Workforce Education (A.W.E.) in Lima, Ohio.
Nationwide, a 2004 survey issued by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that, from January 2001 through December 2003, 5.3 million workers were displaced from jobs they had held for at least three years. Additionally, 6.1 million short-tenured workers were dislocated from jobs that they held for less than three years.
“When there is an economic downturn, it becomes a cyclical process. Manufacturing states are the first ones hit and the last ones to recover,” says Eiber, who is the adult programs director at Apollo.
For example, at the end of December 2002, 1,158 employees from LG Philips Display Components Company in nearby Ottawa, Ohio, became unemployed due to the plant’s closing. According to Lisa Ault, formerly of LG Philips Human Resources Department, 563 of those employees worked more than 20 years at the factory. Earlier the same year, Siemens VDO Automotive closed its Shawnee, Ohio, plant leaving more than 200 workers without employment. Many area factories also laid off workers, and local small businesses and government agencies downsized their staffs
These numbers are not black-and-white statistics; they represent individuals who are a part of the community, like Mary Stanley, who was a Siemens VDO Automotive employee for five years before the plant closed. Stanley is grateful that she had her husband Rick, a 30-year Ford Motor Company employee, to support her through this difficult time.
Stanley was not always so fortunate. The last time she was laid off she was a single mom with teenagers still at home. Stanley worked at Lima’s Sunstrand plant for 10 years before the facility closed, laying off approximately 400 employees. She remembers, “I was scared. I was depressed. The last time I thought it was the end. I thought I would never get another job.”
Stanley’s reaction to her first layoff is typical. In his counseling practice, Dr.Thomas Holmes sees the devastating effect that losing a job can have on an individual. According to Holmes, there is a component of grief and anger that must be resolved before a dislocated worker can decide what his or her next step will be.
“Men, most particularly, are vulnerable to this. Men’s identities are attached to their jobs,” the Lima counselor says.
Statistics indicate that unemployment creates social problems, including marital conflict, depression, domestic violence, alcohol or drug abuse, and even suicide.
“Particularly, the later in a person’s life that they get laid off—or are without work—is a very critical situation,” Dr. Holmes cautions. “Statistically, men who are laid off or without employment or retired are more vulnerable to suicide.”
The 48-year-old Stanley did not experience depression, but she was unsure of what she wanted to do in the future. She decided to attend Apollo Career Center’s ABLE/GED program to increase her scholastic abilities, since she had graduated from high school more than three decades ago.
“My goal was simply to be at 12th grade level in math and language to prepare for whatever kind of training I might need,” Stanley says.
The free adult basic education courses are designed specifically to enable adults to master basic reading, writing and math skills. Three mornings a week, Stanley studied with seven other former Siemens employees who were also sharpening their skills to prepare for possible further education.
After two layoffs, Mary Stanley believes that employment opportunities in U.S. factories are becoming a thing of the past. The Department of Labor survey also indicates that manufacturing or factory jobs “continually account for a disproportionately large share of displaced workers.” Statistics from the 2001-03 period record that 1.7 million factory workers who had held their positions for more than three years were dislocated. This number represents almost one-third of the total long-tenured 5.3 million workers who experienced displacement in this time period.
Superintendent J. Chris Pfister, who oversees the staff at the Apollo Career Center, believes it is important to act rapidly when reaching out to people who have been displaced.
“I think that it’s critically important that we help them get back in the workforce as soon as possible, so that there is a sense of security within the family,” comments Pfister. “One of the advantages of career technical education is that retraining does not require several years, but it could be as short as a six-week truck driving program.”
In order to meet the retraining needs of these displaced workers, the Apollo Career Center Adult Workforce Education’s administration and faculty brainstormed to create new programs within high-demand career technical fields. Apollo also surveyed LG Philips employees concerning their interests for specific areas of retraining prior to the plant closing.
According to former Apollo Customized Office Skills Training (COST) Coordinator Peggy Miller, now an Internet design technology instructor at Apollo, “Due to the demand, we started two new computer programs in January 2003. The network systems specialist and Internet design programs were originally scheduled for the following fall, but with the influx of workers from Philips and other area plants, we pushed up the start date to meet their need for retraining.”
To accommodate the expansion within the COST and IT departments, Apollo completed a new Customized Training for Business and Industry Corporate Center in August 2003, which includes a 24-station state-of-the-art computer lab.
“Besides functioning as additional classroom space, the Corporate Center is available for local business and industry for use for customized training, or for company seminars or training programs,” notes Eiber.
To accommodate the influx of displaced workers, the Apollo Truck Driving Academy relocated to a larger 36-acre site earlier this year and contracted to provide housing for long-distance students upon request.
Apollo also expanded the scheduling in its health care division in response to a constant demand for trained medical personnel. In fall 2002, Apollo created both a nine-month medical assistant program and a 10-month surgical technology program, and dedicated the new Apollo Academy of Medical Careers Building. The $1 million project includes an $800,000 building addition and medical supplies worth $200,000. Both of the programs have now received accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation in Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).
An Ottawa satellite of the 10-month licensed practical nursing (LPN) program, normally taught on Lima’s Apollo campus each September, was founded in March 2003 to accommodate the former LG Philips workers. At the first Ottawa Satellite graduation held in January of 2004, 15 of the graduates were former LG Philips employees.
“They were exceptional students. A lot had to do with work ethic, just because they were used to working eight hours a day,” remarks Ottawa LPN Instructor Mary Kales. The median age of the group was “late thirties to early forties,” adds Kales, who is now a health careers instructor in the Apollo Career Center High School.
Among the first graduates was former Philips HR Representative Lisa Ault, who had been instrumental in distributing the original survey that caused Apollo to initiate the Ottawa nursing program. She saw the plant closing as an opportunity to pursue the medical skills that she has always wanted to add to her resume. The Ottawa Satellite continues to provide a retraining opportunity within the small community that was economically devastated by the loss of its major industry.
Dislocated workers like Lisa Ault who are faced with difficult decisions regarding retraining have become typical career tech students in our changing economic times. Since unemployment and displacement continue to be two constant variables within our society, choosing training in a high-demand occupation helps to ensure a greater potential for future employment. Of the 10 job categories expected to grow the fastest nationwide by 2012, six are in health care, and the majority of the remainder are in computer software or data-communications networking, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The large population of aging baby boomers has created a demand within the medical field for an increase in trained personnel, including home-health aides, which is the fifth fastest growing occupation in the nation. Medical assistant has taken the number one spot in the employment projections, and medical records workers is number six.
Within the computer industry, a demand for network system and data analysts ranked second in the nationwide job projections with a 57 percent growth rate. In Ohio, the top seven job rankings were all within the computer field, ranging from support specialists to desktop publishers.
In response to a demand for multiple maintenance skills within the manufacturing industry, Apollo Industrial Training Manager Ben Brigham created and implemented a 900-hour Multi-Craft Industrial Maintenance program in May 2002.
“In the beginning, enrollment was 100 percent displaced workers,” notes Brigham. “The most difficult thing is to help dislocated students to come to terms with the emotional barriers resulting from losing their livelihood. Part of the training program is to deal with the social and emotional issues that result from being displaced.”
Besides Brigham, other innovative individuals in the northwestern Ohio community such as Ken Blanchard, education training coordinator at Ford’s Lima Engine Plant, are also preparing for the future.
“Thinking ahead, as the history of the automotive industry is very cyclical, we try to encourage our employees to look at the big picture and to constantly re-evaluate themselves within the context of their current jobs,” Blanchard says. “We are trying to help people develop their own interests and talents to prepare for any eventuality in the job market.”
Ford employees continually pursue further education—including attending Apollo programs ranging from truck driving to computer technology.
“A part of the benefit package for all U.A.W. [United Auto Workers] represented Ford employees is an education fund, and we are encouraging all of our employees to utilize this benefit,” Blanchard explains.
At Apollo, the superintendent and his staff are dedicated to making training beneficial not only for laid-off workers, but for companies like Ford. They understand that if the area has a skilled workforce, then the businesses will be there also, making it a “win-win” situation for everyone.
In the last few years, hundreds of displaced individuals have attended various technical training through programs on the Apollo campus or at the Ottawa Satellite. Apollo Adult Program Director Neal Eiber has gleaned some wisdom through this time of transition for displaced workers and growth for the Apollo Career Center A.W.E.
He encourages other adult career technical schools to face the challenge of meeting the needs of the dislocated, 1) by networking with the different social agencies regarding student funding sources and criteria, and 2) by also working with employment counselors. He feels that it is paramount for career and technical education to reach out to displaced workers.
“We need to make it as easy as possible for them to get into training, especially in regards to funding, as the paperwork can seem like an insurmountable barrier,“ says Eiber.
Superintendent Pfister agrees. “We want to make it as easy as possible to obtain training in a nontraditional format. It is almost a moral obligation to help people, whatever their needs are, to take them from where they are to someplace higher, so they can have a good quality of life,” Pfister says. “That is what career centers are all about.”
Christina Ryan Claypool is a freelance journalist and the public information specialist for Apollo Career Center Adult Workforce Education. For more information, visit www.apollocareercenter.com.
- Techniques January 2004 Issue - 
