NEENAH, Wis. (WFRV) – The Fox Valley economic scene is about to undertake a major change, with more than 400 employees looking for new jobs as a result of two companies shutting down their locations. Thankfully, the Fox Valley Workforce Development Board is stepping in to help those workers with the next step in their careers.
“For some of them it will be as simple as a resume refresh, some practice interviewing, maybe a job search strategy. For others, it might involve more significant retraining,” Fox Valley Workforce Development Board, Inc. CEO Anthony Snyder said. “Our goal is just to make sure that all of these workers who want to work when these doors close have somewhere to go next Monday.”
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Lakeside Book Company is closing its Menasha location and is laying off 339 workers by the end of June, while in April, Del Monte Food will end operations in Markesan, leaving 90 employees without a job.
“We’re working with the leadership of both of these employers to find out first, ‘describe the people who are being impacted, how long have they been there, what’s the education level, what kind of jobs would be a good fit for them afterward?” Snyder said. “In this case, the employees are not at fault. The employees are losing their roles because markets have changed. People aren’t buying canned vegetables like they used to, or they’re not buying books like they used to.”
FVWDB is a nonprofit, government-funded organization that helps anyone who is willing to work find a job, regardless of their background. It will roll out a “rapid response” plan to meet with the employees and their managers to make the transition from one job to the next as seamless as possible.
“We will connect with the management of both employers and we will map out some time to do a rapid response,” Snyder said. “That’s when we go on site and connect with all the employees and let them know what all their benefits are.”
For as uncertain as the transition is for employees, employers may also have concerns that employees will leave the company before it shutters operation. Despite the name of the plan, Snyder explained that FVWDB does its best to take it slow and make sure that the company retains its employees as long as it needs while the the employees are able to easily move on to their next job.
“We try to work with the employers to try to make sure that their workers are not bailing immediately,” he said. “We take a real cautious, level, slow approach in the entire workings of the rapid response.”
According to Snyder, there is record-low unemployment in the region, and the high demand for employees will make it much easier for job seekers to be successful in their search.
“In a record low unemployment, which is what we’re facing right now, these individuals should have no trouble finding their next job,” he said. “When we get word of a dislocation of any amount, we get employers calling us immediately going, ‘How can I meet these workers?’”
The most important advice for employees soon to be out of a job is to be calm.
“Don’t panic, take a breath, pause for a moment,” Snyder said. “Contact us, sit down with a career planner, and let someone walk you through the next steps.”
In addition to staff members offering career search help and access to training, they also organize private and community job fairs.
“When we have a really large dislocation, like the one at Lakeside, that typically will turn into a private job fair, especially when you have someone in the printing business, and it might make sense for us to have a very focused, private job fair, bringing in other printing employers,” Snyder said.
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Snyder knows just how meaningful a job is to quality of life, and that gives him satisfaction in his line of work to help others get hired.
“There’s nothing that can change an individual’s life or their family more than having a good job with a decent salary and benefits that you can take care of yourself and your family. It is the American Dream,” Snyder said. “We ensure that anyone who wants to work has an opportunity to do so.”
