Cuts squeeze agency’s ability to help job-seekers

• Reprints

Wayne Williamson of Portage listens, along with classmate Sheila Ivery of Hammond (left), during their employer and labor relations class at Calumet College of St. Joseph in Whiting, Ind. Saturday February 4, 2012. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media

Learn more

Learn about Experience Works at www.experienceworks.org. Information on services offered by WorkOne in the region can be found at http://nwi.gotoworkone.com.

Article Extras

Updated: March 15, 2012 8:03AM

Wayne Williamson is a Marine veteran who served in the Vietnam War and went on to put in 30 years with a local steel mill, with more than 15 of those years as a supervisor.

Williamson, 61, of Portage, retired from the mill in 2001. Since then, he’s held an assortment of jobs, including a position at the Porter County Jail, which he wasn’t suited for physically, and another with a local security firm. He now drives a bus part time for South Lake Community Services, but hasn’t found anything that would provide the salary he needs.

He also went back to school; in May, he’ll graduate from Calumet College of St. Joseph with a bachelor’s degree in organization management. Williamson, who also has been active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars, would like to find a job working with fellow veterans, particularly those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I used to think experience counted a lot” in getting a job, he said. “I’m learning through school it doesn’t mean what it used to.”

Williamson, who wonders if his age is a factor as he tries to find suitable employment — he’s sent out more than 100 resumes — isn’t alone. National statistics and anecdotes from local job training providers show that older Americans may have a tougher time finding a job than their younger counterparts.

“Nationally, as of May 2011, job-seekers 65 or over spent an average of a year looking for work, there were more than 7 million people 65 or older in the labor force, and the unemployment rate for this group was almost twice what it was in 2007,” said Katie Moreau, associate director of communications for the American Association of Retired Persons Indiana, via email.

While it may be of little consolation to Williamson, there are some bright spots in the employment picture for older Americans. According to national statistics from the AARP, at 6.2 percent, the unemployment rate for the work force aged 55 and older in December was down from 6.4 percent in November and was the lowest rate for this age group since early 2009.

The number of older unemployed people also fell by 62,000 to 1.9 million, and the average duration of unemployment fell from 58.2 weeks to 52.2 weeks from November to December.

Still, the segment of workers ages 55 to 64 has grown by more than 50 percent, while funding to provide them unemployment services locally has been slashed by 45 percent, said Peggy Pochowiak, employment and training coordinator for Experience Works.

The LaPorte County-based agency provides services in 12 regional counties, except for Lake County. The national not-for-profit provides assistance to low-income people ages 55 and up.

The funding cut took effect in July, Pochowiak said. “That’s put a damper on us because we have a waiting list for our services.”

The agency went from being able to help 118 people to serving 62 because of the cuts, and had to freeze enrollment. The freeze was lifted this week, and the agency can enroll 22 people now, Pochowiak said.

The funding cut came when the agency’s services were most needed.

“A lot of people have had to come out of retirement in order to make ends meet, or they never worked and their spouse died, and they can’t live on the spouse’s Social Security,” or someone has worked in industry and can no longer meet the physical demands of the job, Pochowiak said, adding the average length of unemployment for her clients is 3 years.

At the WorkOne office in Gary, center manager Sharla Williams said a 71-year-old respiratory therapist came into the office and said she needed to work a little bit longer. She faced competition from younger people for the same jobs.

The increasing costs of food and medicine may outstrip Social Security and other benefits, forcing older people to return to the job force even part time to make ends meet.

“A person at WorkOne has to motivate them not to give up, because someone will agree their years of experience” are valuable, Williams said, adding older people need to reinvent themselves and perhaps develop new skills to find employment.