County Offers Strategies for Tight Job Market

Short-term vocational training can provide competitive boost for jobseekers

BELMONT, Calif., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- While California climbs slowly out of
the recession, job seekers still find themselves in a flooded market vying for
a limited number of jobs. Like much of California, San Mateo County has been
hit hard by reductions in workforce across a variety of industries, from
biotechnology, banking, and information technology, to cutbacks in county
government staffing due to the State's budget crisis. San Mateo County's
August unemployment rate of 9.2% represented an 84% increase over the 5.0%
rate in July 2008. Additionally, residents participate in a regional labor
market that includes neighboring Santa Clara, San Francisco, and Alameda
counties; the overall unemployment picture for the region is far from bright,
as a total labor force of almost 2.5 million people competes for scarce jobs.

"Between the first quarters of 2008 and 2009, we've seen an increase of 168%
in the number of visits at PeninsulaWorks, our One-Stop Career Centers," said
County of San Mateo Workforce Manager Fred Slone. "There is a clear need to
prepare workers for the new jobs and skills that are constantly changing and
evolving here in Silicon Valley."

This is why PeninsulaWorks is hosting a training resource fair that provides
job seekers and laid off workers with information and tools about how to
access federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funding for
short-term vocational training. Mini-orientations will be provided, to walk
participants through the steps to qualify for funding and access other
job-related resources. PeninsulaWorks' eligible training providers will share
information about the types of training and classes available through this
special funding.

An event Website at www.StimulusAtWork.org has been created to provide all of
the details about the event's activities. It also houses video success
stories from real-life PeninsulaWorks' customers who accessed this funding and
turned their lives around. Like Janif, who was laid off after 17 years as an
airline mechanic, and was able to retool his skills and transfer to another
industry. Or Laurie, a single mother of two young children, who successfully
completed a Certified Nursing Assistant training that lifted her into a new
career. And, Tony who was laid off as a restaurant manager and accessed
PeninsulaWorks' training resources that moved him into a higher wage
Information Technology career.

The event takes place in Redwood City, October 29th, 2009, from 1:00 - 5:00 pm
at 555 Marshall Street (corner of Middlefield and Marshall). There is hourly
paid parking in the public lots, and on the street located under the movie
theatre at Middlefield and Broadway, or at the street level at Middlefield and
Jefferson, but public transportation is recommended. For more information, go
to www.StimulusAtWork.org.

SOURCE PeninsulaWorks

Fred Slone, +1-650-802-5181, for PeninsulaWorks