Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 10, 1994 TAG: 9404100132
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium
"We've got to look at converting much of this state's economy from a defense economy to a commercial one," Secretary of Commerce and Trade Robert Skunda said Friday.
In the long run, Skunda said the state must try to reorient the economy and capabilities of people to attract different kinds of businesses. In the short term, he acknowledged there is little the state can do in response to the shipyard's plans to eliminate up to 7,000 jobs through the end of 1996.
Skunda said the state can provide assistance in the form of unemployment benefits and job placement help from the Virginia Employment Commission.
Shipyard President W.R. "Pat" Phillips Jr. announced the planned reductions Thursday. He said the action could bring the yard's employment level down to 14,000 - well below the 21,000 the yard currently employs.
Shipyard workers worried about losing their jobs should waste no time preparing for the loss of a paycheck, financial planners said.
"It's like waiting for a predicted hurricane," said Lewis Watson, president of Virginia Financial Consultants Inc. in Hampton. "You don't wait until it gets here to tape the windows."
While Phillips has said more than half of the job cuts will come through attrition, that still means thousands of Peninsula workers will be laid off in the next 2 1/2 years.
"If they're at all concerned, they should take a hard look at their budget and finances and prepare in advance for the worst case," said Kenneth Hawkins, director of Consumer Credit Counseling, a United Way agency. "If they don't have a good household budget, they probably need to come in and see our counselors."
One of the first steps in preparing for the worst is paying off high-interest credit card debt, experts said.
For yard workers who lose their jobs, unemployment insurance will pay up to $208 a week for as long as 26 weeks, said Adrion Whitaker, manager of the Virginia Employment Commission's unemployment insurance office in Newport News.
The amount workers are eligible for depends on how much money they were making before the layoff, he said.
Michael Apker knows what it's like to get a pink slip from the shipyard. He lost his job as an electrician in December.
Apker said it took him three months to find a job as a production manager at a Hampton precision metal stamping facility.
"Sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring with a job offer isn't easy," he said. "Now I can see the rainbow at the end of the storm."
by CNB