By Jana Hill
Special to The Herald
MILL CREEK — John Aiello expected to be back to work by now.
The regional sales manager was laid off about a year ago and has been looking for a new job ever since.
"I never thought it would be this long," he said.
Since his layoff from Makino, a company that primarily makes manufacturing equipment for the aerospace industry, Aiello has sent out about 500 resumes and secured only 10 interviews.
At one, "I was one of 400 people who applied for that position," said Aiello, a 1985 graduate of University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in engineering.
Aiello is one of the 8.1 percent of Snohomish County residents who were unemployed in February. According to Donna Thompson, labor economist for Washington State Department of Employment Security, things aren’t likely to get better soon.
"It’s probably not going to be going down because Boeing is still laying off people," Thompson said.
Aiello is hoping for the best — for a job that will keep him, his wife Cyndy and their three children in their Mill Creek home.
The family came from Los Angeles when John Aiello was recruited by Makino to open a Seattle-area office.
When the economy started to soften, Aiello lost his job.
"As Boeing’s production rate started going down, the spending on that type of capital equipment started going down," he said.
The loss of his job had an immediate impact.
"Once you get laid off, some of your expenses go up," he said.
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To help make ends meet, Cyndy Aiello has increased production of her custom window treatments, and the family cut out all unnecessary expenses.
"And we weren’t real spendy anyway," Cyndy Aiello said.
They had prepared for the standard three to six months without an income, as financial advisers say a household should. They had already sworn off credit cards and car payments.
"In this environment, that’s not nearly enough," John Aiello said.
He’s temporarily working in investment and financial planning and insurance, but the work pays only a sales commission.
He said he’s willing to take much lower paying jobs, but that most companies just say he’s overqualified.
Selling the family home is an option the Aiellos are trying to avoid, especially since rents are so high for a family of five, he said.
And he said he’s not soothed by the news that experts are saying the recession is over.
"My personal economy has not picked up yet," he said.
Cyndy Aiello said she works to keep everything consistent for the children.
As for her own stress relief, she’s been praying more than usual.
"I know God has a plan for us," she said. "Being patient and waiting, that’s the hard part. I just can’t imagine people who don’t have a faith," she said.
Jana Hill writes for the Enterprise Newspapers. She can be reached at 425-673-6533 or e-mail janahill@heraldnet.com.
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