Tear out the “Life after layoffs” stories that appeared in Sunday and
Monday’s Post and share them with any high school student who’s thinking about
dropping out. The stories offer irrefutable proof that today’s workers need more
education and greater skills than ever before. They also show that, while this may be a better time than usual to look for a
job, losing years of seniority and benefits is a separate matter altogether.
Reporter Sara Pitzer sought out people who had
lost their jobs when Cone Mills closed its Salisbury plant last year. Some 625 people were
thrown out of work. At the time, company and employment security officials reassured the
public that these workers should be able to find new jobs.
Many of them have. But re-entering the workforce
has been a sobering experience. Several have learned just how well Cone was treating them;
no new employers are willing to pay them as much as the textile company did. Instead,
they’re having to settle for lower wages and, at times, greater commutes.
Still others are taking advantage of programs that
will help pay tuition to get more training at Rowan Cabarrus Community College.
They’re finding that going back to the classroom is no romp through the park. The
information and processes that today’s students are expected to master are light
years ahead of what they studied decades ago.
The most telling comment came from human resources
expert Fran Lilly, now an instructor at UNC-Charlotte, who said these workers are
“casualties of the shift from the manufacturing era to the era where human capital is
measured in terms of intellectual capacity, as opposed to physical capacity.”
That will come as shocking news to those who
reject the intellectual path and plan to follow their parents into the textile mills.
You don’t have to be an Einstein to find a
job today. But more and more workers are required to be flexible and willing to grow and
learn. That’s true of virtually every industry, not just manufacturing.
Today’s students aren’t the only ones
whose eyes may be opened by the “Life after layoffs” stories. Send another copy
to anyone who thinks Rowan County no longer needs to actively recruit new industry. Yes,
unemployment is very low here, but many of those workers are underemployed. High-wage
manufacturing jobs have been replaced by positions that do not pay as well.
The layoffs that hit the Rowan economy last year
opened a new chapter in the lives of more than 1,000 people. They have started new jobs,
gone to school, learned to do without. How Rowan itself will adjust to this change in
direction has yet to be seen.
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