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TMCNet: Unemployment leads people to job training

[February 21, 2009]

Unemployment leads people to job training

(Ventura County Star (CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Feb. 21--John Lampara is worried about being laid off from his job cleaning and preparing operating rooms for surgery at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.

So Lampara, 34, has enrolled in the surgical technology program at the Simi Valley Adult School, hoping to turn his job into a recession-proof career assisting surgeons.

"It took being scared of being laid off for me to do this," said Lampara, a Ventura resident. "I've been thinking about going to school for years, but you get comfortable with whatever you do." People like Lampara, looking for new jobs or trying to hold on to the ones they have, are flooding classes at local community colleges and adult schools, taking courses in everything from auto mechanics to bookkeeping.

They're drawn to the classes because they can learn skills in a few months, then go out and get jobs, said Loredana Carson, community services coordinator at the Conejo Valley Adult School.

Locally, people are learning to be pharmacy technicians, nurse assistants and bookkeepers. Classes in biotechnology, office management and phlebotomy -- drawing blood -- are also popular.

"It doesn't help you any to sit around and worry," Carson said. "What helps you is to learn a new skill. For some people, this is something they've been thinking about for a long time. The economy has given them a nudge." Statewide, enrollment in adult school career/technical education grew by 5 percent from 2007 to 2008, an increase of more than 9,000 students.

Yet funding is dropping because of state budget cuts, making it harder to provide classes people want, said Debra Jones, spokeswoman for the adult education office at the California Department of Education.

"I get calls on a daily basis from adult school principals, saying students are at their doors wanting classes," Jones said. "But with the pending budget cuts, they don't know if they can serve them, or how they can serve them." Locally, officials at adult schools and community colleges say they're seeing a definite increase in students looking for job skills classes. Enrollment in a bookkeeping class at the Conejo adult school increased by 30 percent this year, prompting the school to offer both day and night classes.

The Oxnard Adult School has added classes in computer business software and brick masonry, said counselor Maria Cervera.

"We have had a tremendous number of people, more than usual, coming in," Cervera said. About 90 percent of them have been laid off, she said.

"People are very scared when they come here," Cervera said. "You can see how somber they are. They want some hope. When they get here, they're pretty down. I see a lot of sadness." The Simi Valley Adult School has started a lottery for some courses because they're so popular, said spokeswoman Jeanette O'Brien. The school has added classes in phlebotomy, and the welding program has a waiting list, she said.

Often, adult school students can learn new skills in less than a year for less than $1,000, though some classes last longer and cost more, administrators said. The bookkeeping class at the Conejo adult school, for example, goes for 16 weeks and costs $700. The pharmacy technician class goes for 10 Saturdays and costs $850.

Sarah Conroy, a young mom who lives in Fillmore, appreciates the pace and cost of adult school programs. Conroy, 24, had been preparing to be a nurse at CSU Channel Islands but decided to enroll instead in the surgical technology program at the Simi Valley Adult School. Waiting lists for nursing programs are long, and Conroy and her husband, a firefighter, hope to buy a home while prices are low. The adult school program takes just a year and costs $4,000.

"I wanted to get into something quick," Conroy said. "I was tired of waiting to be in a program. I wanted to be in a program." Community colleges also have more people taking job skills classes, part of an overall enrollment increase that's making it hard for students to find open courses.

Enrollment in the auto technology program at Oxnard College is at an all-time high, said instructor Andy Cawelti. Many of those students are coming back to school to update their skills, particularly in working with hybrid cars, he said.

"At the dealerships, fewer cars are coming in, so someone's going to get laid off," Cawelti said. "If you're taking classes, staying up with the technology, surely the employer will be tempted to lay off the person who hasn't been to a class in three years." At Moorpark College, enrollment in the biotechnology program more than doubled this year, going from 15 students to 36, said instructor Subhash Karkare.

Some of those people are looking for new jobs, but most are boosting their skills, Karkare said.

"People are coming in from all kinds of industries," he said. "They feel times are difficult, and they should fortify their skills." Helena Kim, 45, started the program after being laid off from a biotechnology firm in Camarillo, her first job after being a stay-at-home mom for 10 years. The program helped her regain her confidence, said Kim, who has a doctorate in chemistry.

"I thought if I could get additional skills, I could go back to the biotech field," said Kim, a Thousand Oaks resident. "You never know what's going to happen. I'm one of many." To see more of the Ventura County Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.venturacountystar.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, Ventura County Star, Calif.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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