SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif- Unemployment in California is at 10.2 percent for the month of September. Meaning 400-thousand more people have jobs then two years ago. In Santa Barbara County, unemployment sat at 7.2 percent as of August and in San Luis Obispo County unemployment was at 7.4 percent.
Although San Luis Obispo County is much lower than the state average, there are still a lot of people struggling locally. Thursday, One-Stop held a job-seeker workshop in Atascadero. Employment specialist said there are new hurdles for people trying to get jobs.
Dan Davis was let go from Nipomo High School at the end of last school year, ending a 15 year teaching career. With budget cuts he said he saw it coming, but it still came as a shock. "I belong in a classroom, that's my element," said Dan Davis, a former teacher.
Davis is used to helping others in their career path, but now he's working on beginning a new one for himself, but the road is unfamiliar. "It's a different world now after being in the teaching profession for so long, making that change is very difficult," said Davis.
That's the problem for many mature adults, things just aren't the same as they were when they first started out in the workforce. Now they're having to re-learn everything from the interview process, to writing a resume. "We have to re-learn how to get a job, its not like it was when you were looking around straight out of college or whenever it was the last time they were looking," said Davis.
Employment specialists said some new unfortunate trends they're seeing are people 40 or older with degrees struggling to find work. Also age discrimination by employers and discrimination of people who have been unemployed long term.
One-Stop: www.slo-onestop.net
