AGU INNOVATION ABSTRACTS ie
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SERVING THE DISLOCATED WORKER

History and Purpose

Late in 1982 a textile plant in the small, one-industry town of Ware Shoals discontinued its production,
forcing some 600 people out of work. For many of them, working a lifetime at the local mill had been the
tradition of generations. Few had ever contemplated any other kind of work, and the community itself provided
few alternatives anyway. Most of these people had worked at jobs which were now obsolete, and many of them
lacked the basic educational skills to qualify for other employment—or even to seek it competently. Officials of
Piedmont Technical College were determined to respond to the distress of their neighbors. Our objective was
simple enough: to get as many dislocated people as possible back to work, as soon as possible and at the lowest
attainable cost! Although recruitment, certification of eligibility (actually determined by the local office of the
State Employment Security Commission), enrollment, job development and placement are integral and necessary
features of our program, our primary task was to prepare our participants to obtain and to retain permanent
unsubsidized employment. The program now operates statewide.

Description of Training and Services

To reach the people for whom this program is designed, the project director at each technical college conducts
continuing recruitment and publicity, including announcements in the media, presentations to civic
organizations, distribution of posters and brochures, and consultation with local employers. Since we wish to
prevent unemployment whenever possible and because it is easier to reach people eligible for our assistance
before they are scattered by unemployment, we provide orientation and six to nine hours of basic employment
skills training at the request of employers who plan substantial personnel reductions.

For most people who face unemployment or have been laid-off, our next task is certification. If during an
initial interview an applicant or inquirer appears eligible under state-mandated guidelines for Title III, he or she
is referred to the Employment Security Commission for a determination of eligibility. If certified, this person is
enrolled in the program. If technically ineligible under both Title Ill and Title IIA (for disadvantaged persons),
the applicant may be enrolled as a "non-eligible" and offered all services of the program which can be provided
under state funds especially reserved for that purpose.

Once enrolled, participants receive intensive instruction in employment skills—a sort of "basic training"
which may last anywhere from three days to four weeks or more. The basic model for this essential component
of our program presupposes approximately 70 hours of assessment, career exploration, developing employability
skills, coping with unemployment, and other services for each individual in the training group. The general
purpose of this training is to foster a realistic assessment of the relevance of one’s skills to a changing labor
market and to structure an effective strategy for adapting to unemployment and subsequent re-employment in a
different occupation or environment. The all-important "plan" for each individual may center on finding new
work immediately, going back to school for retraining, or a combination of both as ways of attaining short-term
and long-range personal goals.

Assessment is gathering the information necessary to formulate appropriate activities for each individual. Each
person’s work history provides indications of strengths and limitations in terms of entering new employment.
Participants identify their functional and transferable skills, barriers to employment, and their readiness for
training and the job market. They explore their values, personal characteristics, and self-image. Assessment
also involves testing for basic educational skills and achievement, using standardized inventories.

Career exploration encourages the students to survey a broad range of career options before they narrow their
goals prematurely to specific (and perhaps ill-chosen) ones. This process includes an appraisal of assessment
data and individual potential, matching this self-appraisal with the job market and with options for formal
training, researching possible careers and making tentative decisions about education and work.

The component called "employability skills" is designed to help participants find, obtain and keep a new job.
Thirty or forty hours are devoted to building effective communication skills, assertiveness, and confidence;
promoting motivation and a positive attitude; and setting realistic goals in terms of personal values and abilities.
The participants learn how to find and tap into the "hidden job market," how to select a job and to conduct a

 

AO} Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712