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By Bill Catlin
Minnesota Public Radio
May 8, 2001
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A string of layoffs by Twin Cities companies like 3M, ADC Telecommunications, and a host of smaller firms tell the tale - the job market in Minnesota is softening. Claims for unemployent insurance in Minnesota through most of April soared by 67 percent, compared to the same period last year. And though unemployment remains low, state officials expect it to rise. People looking for a new job will tell you it's harder than they expected.
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"My husband came in from his shower on a Monday morning, and said, 'Say, did you hear anything about your company being sold over the weekend?' Before my feet hit the floor, I said, 'I'm out of a job.' I mean, just like that, I knew," says Kitchen.
After 22 years as a Human Resources administrator for Honeywell, Kitchen is now at home, looking for another job. At first, time seemed an ally. The company planned 4,500 job cuts. Kitchen was asked to stay for 18 months, with a bonus if she didn't leave sooner.
"And I thought, the longer I can stay here, the better that will be, because it's a more secure situation than going out there and hitting the streets looking for work."
Back then, the job market was strong, as the national and state economy roared ahead, and businesses of all kinds continued to expand.
"Listening to the people that were leaving sooner, before the end of the 18 months, they weren't having a great deal of difficulty finding positions that were equivalent or better. A lot of people were going to better jobs, more money, really excited about where they were going," says Kitchen.
Over the last few months, Kitchen has watched helplessly as huge layoffs locally and nationally hit the news. Last month the U.S. economy shed jobs at the fastest pace in a decade, as economists debated whether the nation was heading into a recession. Kitchen says she and other Honeywell alums looking for work now, find their prospects much dimmer than six months ago.
"There aren't as many openings. They aren't at the levels that we want to see. I'm finding it real hard to find an equivalent job to what I had. And I'm finding it real hard to find a job that would be a great next step position."
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"I just sent her an e-mail the other day, and said, 'I'm having to start that phone calling process, now. And I feel like everytime I dial, I'm on the phone, saying, "Hello? I'm naked and vulnerable. Wouldn't you love to help me out here?"' It's that old dream about running down the street naked. That's just how I feel," says Kitchen.
"My last day of work was March 15th," says Alan Walk.
Walk and his wife, Joann, were both laid off from the St. Paul printing company, Brown and Bigelow. He maintained machinery; she worked in the office. In February, Walk was full of confidence about his prospects. Now, after attending three job fairs and finding no desirable jobs, Walk says he thought it would be easier.
"It's slower than I thought. The pay isn't there, the benefits are junk. Nothing to speak of. I'm kind of disappointed."
But Walk says he's not concerned yet. More than half of his 20 weeks of severance remains, and if no other job surfaces, he's confident of being called back to Brown and Bigelow for the Christmas rush. In the meantime, he's enjoying the yard work and going to garage sales.
"I kind of like this life. It just can't last. But it's kind of nice, just doing whatever I want. I could get real used to it," says Walk.
None of the people we spoke to for this story expressed desperation. And the numbers suggest none is warranted. Minnesota's jobless rate remains very low. While employment in some industries like mining is cratering, in March, Minnesota's economy added jobs at a rate of one percent, compared to the same month last year. Several sectors posted job growth, including construction, finance, and business services. But those signs of strength may ring hollow for someone who's lost a job.
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Connie Skinner has worked in the information technology field for 20 years. She's earned Microsoft certifications as both a systems engineer and trainer. Her most recent layoff occurred when the Minneapolis-based online education company, Wwwrrr, shut down in January, one of many casualties in the dot-com backlash.
Skinner says she's never had a sense of economic security. Technological change has crushed companies on her resume, like CPT, a now defunct maker of word processors. But the pace of change can also breed opportunity. A year ago, she was laid off from a consulting company. The tech sector was just beginning to cool. Her job at Wwwrrr came through a friend's tip.
"He had told me that this company was hiring, and so I called him up when I got laid off. He was the first person I called. I got an interview with them, and I was back to work in three weeks."
With her latest job loss, Skinner qualified for training assistance through the state dislocated worker program. She took the opportunity to catch up on new software. Even so, with dot-coms and technology giants alike laying off tens of thousands lately, she's not brimming with confidence about finding a job once her training is finished.
"I think I'm going to run into a lot of competition. I think there's a lot of people out there with the same skill base and knowledge base that I have. It's just going to depend on personality, and the fit," Skinner says.
Regardless of where her next job comes, Skinner says she is not counting on any company to provide her with much job security. She says she'll have to rely on the fact that there's a structural need in the economy for her skills.
"Technology is always going to be there. Technology's never going to go away. When I first started out in technology 20 years ago, technology was a luxury - computers were a luxury. And it's not that way anymore. They're a necessity," Skinner says.
Asked if that means there will always be work for someone with up-to-date skills, Skinner hesitates and says she hopes that's the case, but it depends on what the economy does - and how companies respond.
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