Where are the Jobs? - Part 6

The unemployment rate stands at 8.3% in Maine, and a lot of Mainers are finding themselves unemployed for the first time in their lives.

That's the case for two people who shared their stories with us.

Dot Tardiff was one of the dozens of people laid off from the ZF Lemforder Plant in Brewer, and David Kaulfers was let go from his construction job last May.

"It's really hard to accept the fact that I can't just go to work and forget yesterday's troubles."

David Kaulfers says his nine months of unemployment have been stressful. He had been working for more than two decades. This was new territory.

Jane Searles of Women, Work and Community says after people have taken time to grieve their job loss, then it's time to take a step forward.

"Call Women, Work and Community, call the Career Center, call Penquis, call your counselor, call your clergy person, if you're in an organization that has a peer counselor, call that person but call somebody."

She points out that there is a lot of help out there for everything from resume writing, to filling out online applications, to searching for educational opportunities.

There's also help when filing for unemployment.

"We're not the unemployment office, but if people have questions about how to file for unemployment."

Your local Career Center can help. But for many Mainers, who have been unemployed for months, there is the fear that unemployment will run out.

"If the unemployment stops, I'll have to sell everything I have to try to maintain my home, and that's something I will do."

David says he scours the want ads every day, looking for work. What he's finding are jobs that will pay half of his previous wage.

And for people like him with his kind of work experience or others with a lot of education, some employers overlook them, saying they're over-qualified.

Plus David says it just won't cover the household budget.

"We can make it work but we'll probably go through losing the home and the whole nine yards and I don't want to do that cause that hurts me right here, cause I've never had to do it before."

"The gift of being laid off, and it's one of the few gifts, I realize but it help you stop and pause and go, now what do you want to do?"

That's what Dot Tardiff did when she learned she was losing her job at Lemforder in Brewer.

"I knew I wanted to do something that I knew there'd be a job there and something high demand."

Dot settled on going back to school to become a medical assistant. Just talking about it, makes her face light up.

"Yes, I'm very excited about it. It's a new beginning, I guess and it's something that's not gonna go away."

Plus Dot accepted a temporary position at the Career Center, counseling fellow Lemforder employees who are out of work.

As for David, he's hoping to find a new construction job, that will pay him a decent wage. He's also signed up for a free business course at Women, Work and Community, and is thinking about starting his own roofing business.

"Maybe there is a chance in this weak struggling economy that the average Joe Shmoe can go out there and make himself some money, and that's what I'm hoping to do this year."
"I hope the economy gets better. I need to work. I don't want to lose everything I have."

A spokesperson with the Maine Department of Labor tells us that in January, 600 people had run out of unemployment benefits, and 150 to 200 people are running out each week.

He also emphasized this is a good time to get retrained, and there is a lot of help out there.

To contact Women, Work and Community call 262-7843.

To contact the Career Center in Bangor call 561-4050.