Laid Off: A common position at Employment Fair

Story by Dara Belic

Some of the 500 job seekers who attended a recent employment fair in the 2nd Ward said finding work is harder than it used to be. While a wide variety of job seekers visited the Oct. job fair, what many had in common was the experience of being laid off.

Recent layoffs have affected workers in Chicago, said Sam Johnson, a research and intelligence specialist with the Illinois National Guard, one of 48 employers at the fair.

“A lot of people here are victims of recent company downsizing and plant closures,” said Johnson.

Greenpoint Mortgage Funding, Inc. is one of seven Illinois companies currently laying off workers as the company prepares to close its doors for good.

“Some had college degrees while others had no degrees; some were fresh out of jail,” Johnson said. “Most had been laid off at some point in their employment histories, many more than once.”

Regardless of their pasts, Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) said, unemployed Chicagoans should come to this fair expecting to find secure, stable employment opportunities.

Although the number of job seekers able to attain jobs from the fair is still unknown, Fioretti said he was “overwhelmed with joy” at the effort that went into the event.

“I look forward to hosting it again next year,” said Fioretti, whose ward is in Chicago’s Loop and Near South Side neighborhoods.

Many employers, such as the Hilton Hotel Chicago and FedEx Ground, didn’t hire on the spot, which is “normal procedure,” said Hilton Hotel Employment Manager Elvisa Gacic.

When large employers attend job fairs, “we do so to refer eligible job seekers to our open house sessions.” That’s where companies take applications, Gacic said.

Gacic said she can’t recall a time when the Hilton Hotel had to downsize and she considers a job with the hotel chain “secure employment.”

Erin Johnson, a recruiter for FedEx Ground, said FedEx doesn’t downsize, “it consistently expands.”

But when it comes to layoffs, job seekers have reason to worry.

Enrique Torres, 43, who lives on the Southeast Side of Chicago, said he’s been laid off five times in the past 15 months, most recently from Bosch Dye Casting, which downsized in August.

With no high-school diploma plus a history of incarceration, Torres said he’s scrutinized more than others.

“It’s very discouraging,” said Torres, a married father of four. “All you can do is keep selling yourself and hope the next job will stick.”

Roberto Duran, 21, was also laid off in August by Aramark, an international services company. Duran said he plans to attend Coyne American Institute , a technical school that offers training and certification in the electronic and medical fields.

Duran learned about Coyne through the job fair and will enroll in the Electronic Systems Technician program. But first he must secure a job, he said, which has been hard.

“I’ve filled out 40 to 50 applications for every kind of job imaginable in the past few weeks with no response at all,” he said.

And 20-year-old Jennifer White, of Chicago’s South Side, was laid off from both her first job at Ready Ribs in 2005 and in 2006 at her second job at Chicago Park Plastic, where she assembled component parts.

“I’ve only had three jobs; two of them downsized on me,” said White, who is currently attending Robert Morris College for graphic arts.

“When large, Illinois-based plants shut down and companies in the state downsize, you can bet a lot of people in Chicago are affected,” said Johnson.

And how often does this happen?

For the month of September 2007, 31 separate layoffs occurred in Illinois, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the first six months of this year, 183 Illinois companies laid off a combined 37,251 workers.

“Just knowing you can lose your job for reasons out of your control is scary,” said Torres, as he picked up an information pamphlet from the Manufacturing Works, Inc. booth. “But life goes on. You’ve got to keep waking up in the morning, right?”