The Nebraska Department of Labor is providing services and education for Lexington residents who have lost their jobs. Scott Hunzeker is a research administrator for the Nebraska Department of Labor at the Lincoln branch. Brent LeClair is a regional re-employment services manager for the Nebraska Department of Labor at the North Platte branch. Grace Johnson is the public information officer for the Nebraska Department of Labor.
From what you have seen, what are the main ways Lexington has been affected by the Tyson plant closure?
Johnson: Obviously, this is a huge impact to a small community to lose that much of your workforce with one layoff. We’ve seen a lot of people’s lives dramatically upended just because they’ve lost their employment. So we’re doing everything we can to respond in the fastest way possible. We had rapid response events in the weeks immediately following, which meant reemployment services and getting people registered on our website, helping them file their unemployment benefits and connect with other service providers and other agencies. So those are some of the efforts we’ve done so far. We’ve had a lot of job fairs, a lot of workshops, like a resume workshop, for example. A lot of employers have been reaching out to us saying they want to connect with these workers, which is really encouraging.
LeClair: Other than 3,200 people being let go of their jobs, there’s been an uncertainty of what they’re going to do next and where they’re going to go, but there’s been a relative amount of hope for the individuals as they continue to see what not only our department, but other partners throughout the state agencies and within the community are able to provide from financial resources, job searches and histories, unemployment benefits through the state, and just a vast array of resources that are available to them as people come together to support that community.
Tyson was the major employer in Lexington. What services are you providing for residents who have lost their jobs?
LeClair: Services all started as soon as the warning notice happened. The first step was to get them a rapid response, which is to communicate with them all the information that the state has available to them in the next steps for what that layoff was going to mean to them. And those services could be anywhere from job search activities, resume assistance, hiring events, which we’ve had nine to 10 over the last three months, and then also the activities of WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act), which is a grant provider, which would help them with career services and education services that can, if they want to change careers or change direction, that’s an option that’s available to them as well. Also connecting them to DHHS and the other state agencies that will step alongside SNAP Next Step and other programs, Department of Education and those are all available to them as they continue to navigate that layoff.
Has the Nebraska government helped residents in a time like this before? Have there been any past circumstances where a number of people have been laid off and the government had to step in to help?
Johnson: I’ve been with the agency for about 14 years, and there’s definitely been nothing of this magnitude in my time here.
So this is a unique situation?
Johnson: It is for sure.
Hunzeker: To have a layoff this large in a community the size of Lexington’s pretty unheard of. The state provides services for layoffs all of the time. Brent mentioned the warning notices that get filed when a company is laying off. The Department of Labor then holds rapid response events that help those individuals as soon as possible to get them up to speed with resumes and job search assistance. So those activities are normal, but a layoff event of this size is very unheard of in Nebraska.
Three thousand two hundred workers have been laid off and Lexington only has a population of 11,000. Would funding be redistributed from Lexington by the government if there is a significant population loss?
Hunzeker: There’s a lot that goes into how funding is distributed. In some cases, there will be funding specifically provided to Lexington to provide the support for the community. So in those instances, there may be actual increases in funding to help with the layoff events. Eventually, there’s a possibility that the funding calculations may be a little bit altered, but it’s really too soon to know at this point, just because there’s so many people that are still searching for work, and we’re hopeful that we can find them jobs in the local area in Dawson County. So once we know what that looks like, then we’ll know more about what funding could look like.
Johnson: And I just wanted to add that we did just receive a dislocated worker grant to help expand our services for what Scott just said to help people get re-employed and re-skilled if they need it. Brent may have some thoughts on that too, but that was a federal grant we just received for the Lexington efforts.
LeClair: Yeah, that grant is a substantial step in helping the community of Lexington with those dislocated workers and being able to either set them into a new career path or helping them with their job searches and aligning them with other employers throughout the community, but also the state as well. So, a huge, huge grant fund that helps us not only get assistance for those folks, but put more people in place to assist them as well.
Where are most open jobs in Nebraska following the closure?
Hunzeker: The vast majority of the job openings right now are in the metro areas. So Douglas and Sarpy counties, in and around Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island. Generally, the larger the city or county, the more job openings there are. And that’s pretty standard for what’s going on right now as well.
How would the Lexington layoffs affect the job market in Nebraska?
Johnson: I would just say we have heard from a lot of employers in that region, even though Scott’s absolutely right with where the jobs are located. It is encouraging, though, I think, to hear from employers in that region interested in connecting with these workers. So that’s given them some options for their workforce that they didn’t have before, I would say.
LeClair: I think you’re going to see a lot of new work arising with the change in seasons and change of workforces, construction and many other trade-type jobs that are available that have opened up since the springtime. We don’t want to ignore the fires that have been in the area, where we’re going to have farmers, ranchers and others that are going to have needs of services that are maybe able to open up some spots for some of these individuals as well.
Hunzeker: Yeah, the other thing is commuting to and from Lexington is normal. In the western half of the state, it’s not unheard of for people to commute a county or two away for work. So people that are searching for work aren’t only searching in Dawson County. They’re looking elsewhere in the surrounding area. And employers there are reaching out, and there’s transportation that’s set up to help with that as well.
