Published: Sunday, February 1, 2009
In this economic storm, even Plan B jobs are vanishing
Plan B. Do you have one?
In the back of my mind, I've thought that if something happened to my job, I'd find some temporary gig -- working for Starbucks, maybe -- until I could switch to Plan B.
For me, Plan B means returning to college to get teaching credentials or a master's degree. With luck and effort, I'd land in front of a classroom for the rest of my working life. In a secure and fulfilling field, I'd also grab the real golden ring, health insurance.
There are big obstacles, including how I'd support myself and my school-age son while studying for a new career. The real reason I've never pursued Plan B is that on my best days, I love Plan A -- the job I have now.
With the economic storm worsening day after day, Plan B has moved from the back of my mind to become a frequent worry. Teaching? What if I'm wrong about Plan B? Nursing, isn't that where the jobs are? Maybe I should switch to Plan C, me with a stethoscope. Wait, I can't even make it through an episode of "ER."
Last week, with fear in high gear, the whole plan fell apart when even the notion of a bridge job at Starbucks flew out the window.
Ten thousand people at the Boeing Co., 6,700 at Starbucks Corp., 220 with the Weyerhaeuser Co., as many as 20,000 people at Caterpillar Inc., 20,000 at the health-care giant Pfizer after its merger with Wyeth, 8,000 at Sprint Nextel Corp., all will soon lose jobs, or have already lost them.
And those are only layoffs announced last week, when one day alone was described in various news reports as the "Monday jobs massacre," "bloody Monday" and "a Monday avalanche of job losses."
News stories call them jobs lost or workers cut, but they are people -- tens of thousands of people, and all of their families. Where will they go? What, for them, is Plan B?
"I actually never had a Plan B," said Shane Hester, 45, who was outside the WorkSource Snohomish County office at Everett Station on Friday.
The Everett man has been out of work since October, when he lost his job at Intermec Inc., an Everett-based maker of radio frequency identification technology. "Three hundred people were let go Oct. 3, and quite a few more have been let go since I left," Hester said. He'd been with the company for 14 years.
Hester often visits WorkSource, a jobs center with state Employment Security Department resources, to look online for work. He was there Friday reapplying for unemployment insurance.
Gary Olson of Mill Creek worked 12 years for the Microsoft Corp. as part of a maintenance crew. "The whole crew was let go in June, 13 people," said Olson, who was a painter for the Redmond-based company. Although he's 67, Olson wants to keep working.
"I had no Plan B, not at all. I thought I would retire from there," said Olson, who was at WorkSource Friday using a computer for his job search.
Everett's WorkSource center was more bustling than the transit station on Friday. In one area, people were applying for unemployment benefits by phone. Job seekers waited for their turns at computers, and waited in lines for face-to-face help.
"Foot traffic here is up, obviously," said Matt Bench, the Employment Security Department's Snohomish County area director. "We have seen an increase in the number of people who'd been with an employer for seven to 10 years," he said.
"But I think it's important that people don't push the panic button," Bench said. "It is a significant downturn, but if you take the jobs growth rate over the last three years in Snohomish County, it's still at a reasonable rate."
At Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center, which serves high school students from 14 area school districts, director Steve Burch said skilled workers are needed in many vocations, regardless of the economy.
"Welding, machining, automotive, even the construction trade, it's slow now, but it will come back," Burch said. "What we're hearing from industry and trade unions is that workers are 50 to 55 years of age, looking at retirement. The pipeline is still empty," he said.
The Sno-Isle center near the Boeing Co. and Paine Field now has about 850 students from 44 schools, Burch said. Among 18 yearlong programs offered are culinary arts, medical and dental assisting, fire service, welding and robotics. Enrollment for next year starts in March, and Burch expects big demand for Sno-Isle programs as the job market tightens.
At 55, my reluctant consideration of Plan B -- or Plan C or D -- has forced me to look at learning something new.
Get used to it, said Burch, who is 62.
"Really that's the mindset we try to instill in our kids. The scene has changed," he said. "Working for one company all your career, that's pretty rare anymore. It used to be the norm.
"People will be lifelong learners, constantly training," Burch said. "That's the way the world is now."
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
In the back of my mind, I've thought that if something happened to my job, I'd find some temporary gig -- working for Starbucks, maybe -- until I could switch to Plan B.
For me, Plan B means returning to college to get teaching credentials or a master's degree. With luck and effort, I'd land in front of a classroom for the rest of my working life. In a secure and fulfilling field, I'd also grab the real golden ring, health insurance.
There are big obstacles, including how I'd support myself and my school-age son while studying for a new career. The real reason I've never pursued Plan B is that on my best days, I love Plan A -- the job I have now.
With the economic storm worsening day after day, Plan B has moved from the back of my mind to become a frequent worry. Teaching? What if I'm wrong about Plan B? Nursing, isn't that where the jobs are? Maybe I should switch to Plan C, me with a stethoscope. Wait, I can't even make it through an episode of "ER."
Last week, with fear in high gear, the whole plan fell apart when even the notion of a bridge job at Starbucks flew out the window.
Ten thousand people at the Boeing Co., 6,700 at Starbucks Corp., 220 with the Weyerhaeuser Co., as many as 20,000 people at Caterpillar Inc., 20,000 at the health-care giant Pfizer after its merger with Wyeth, 8,000 at Sprint Nextel Corp., all will soon lose jobs, or have already lost them.
And those are only layoffs announced last week, when one day alone was described in various news reports as the "Monday jobs massacre," "bloody Monday" and "a Monday avalanche of job losses."
News stories call them jobs lost or workers cut, but they are people -- tens of thousands of people, and all of their families. Where will they go? What, for them, is Plan B?
"I actually never had a Plan B," said Shane Hester, 45, who was outside the WorkSource Snohomish County office at Everett Station on Friday.
The Everett man has been out of work since October, when he lost his job at Intermec Inc., an Everett-based maker of radio frequency identification technology. "Three hundred people were let go Oct. 3, and quite a few more have been let go since I left," Hester said. He'd been with the company for 14 years.
Hester often visits WorkSource, a jobs center with state Employment Security Department resources, to look online for work. He was there Friday reapplying for unemployment insurance.
Gary Olson of Mill Creek worked 12 years for the Microsoft Corp. as part of a maintenance crew. "The whole crew was let go in June, 13 people," said Olson, who was a painter for the Redmond-based company. Although he's 67, Olson wants to keep working.
"I had no Plan B, not at all. I thought I would retire from there," said Olson, who was at WorkSource Friday using a computer for his job search.
Everett's WorkSource center was more bustling than the transit station on Friday. In one area, people were applying for unemployment benefits by phone. Job seekers waited for their turns at computers, and waited in lines for face-to-face help.
"Foot traffic here is up, obviously," said Matt Bench, the Employment Security Department's Snohomish County area director. "We have seen an increase in the number of people who'd been with an employer for seven to 10 years," he said.
"But I think it's important that people don't push the panic button," Bench said. "It is a significant downturn, but if you take the jobs growth rate over the last three years in Snohomish County, it's still at a reasonable rate."
At Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center, which serves high school students from 14 area school districts, director Steve Burch said skilled workers are needed in many vocations, regardless of the economy.
"Welding, machining, automotive, even the construction trade, it's slow now, but it will come back," Burch said. "What we're hearing from industry and trade unions is that workers are 50 to 55 years of age, looking at retirement. The pipeline is still empty," he said.
The Sno-Isle center near the Boeing Co. and Paine Field now has about 850 students from 44 schools, Burch said. Among 18 yearlong programs offered are culinary arts, medical and dental assisting, fire service, welding and robotics. Enrollment for next year starts in March, and Burch expects big demand for Sno-Isle programs as the job market tightens.
At 55, my reluctant consideration of Plan B -- or Plan C or D -- has forced me to look at learning something new.
Get used to it, said Burch, who is 62.
"Really that's the mindset we try to instill in our kids. The scene has changed," he said. "Working for one company all your career, that's pretty rare anymore. It used to be the norm.
"People will be lifelong learners, constantly training," Burch said. "That's the way the world is now."
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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