The message that’s been floating around about the Rowan County labor market is that dozens of companies had job openings. All they needed was to find skilled workers to fill them.

Some soon-to-be former Freightliner employees would like to talk to those companies. A new community task force plans to make that happen.

State officials confirmed Monday that Freightliner plans to lay off 936 employees from its Cleveland truck plant at the end of this week. The workers will continue to be paid through March 5, but most will not wait until then to search for another job.

Layoffs are an unfortunate fact of life in the truck-manufacturing business, as Rowan County has witnessed several times through the years. No one, however, is treating this mass layoff as business as usual. Local leaders quickly came together Tuesday and formed a task force to respond to the news. This ad hoc cavalry includes officials from Rowan County, the Chamber of Commerce, RowanWorks, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, United Way and other agencies that can help laid off workers and their families weather this setback.

Craig Lamb of RCCC says this situation is nothing like the structural unemployment that followed the closing of Pillowtex in 2003. Thousands of experienced textile workers were stuck with skills few companies needed. The Freightliner layoff is different in scale and economic impact. The truck maker’s workers have up-to-date skills that should be in demand. Task force members are confident the workers will be able to connect with new jobs.

To help make that happen, the task force is pulling together a list of available jobs and has planned a job and information fair, tentatively set Jan. 22 at the former Penney’s in Westside Plaza. Meanwhile, the United Way and other agencies will pull together services to offer the families. The worst situations a person can go through are loss of a loved one, divorce and loss of a job, the United Way’s Bob Lippard says. The community has resources to help families through this stressful time, he says.

The Post will do its part by offering the laid-off workers a free “job wanted” ad in our pages and on our website. As with all these programs, details are to be announced.

The community sympathizes with the laid-off workers, and that compassion is leading to action — connecting people to jobs, helping families and getting through this transition. Kudos to the leaders pulling this effort together.