HELP WANTED: Professionals struggle to find jobs after layoffs

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Kay Gann has sent out more than 20 resumes since the small oil and gas company she worked for laid her off in October. <br><br>The accountant has gotten no response. She's had no

Saturday, April 17th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Kay Gann has sent out more than 20 resumes since the small oil and gas company she worked for laid her off in October.

The accountant has gotten no response. She's had no interviews. She has not received even a phone call.

``I think Tulsa is totally depressed,'' said the 46-year-old, who was in an Oklahoma Employment Security Commission office Thursday seeking an extension to her unemployment benefits.

Gann and thousands of other out-of-work Oklahoma professionals have found that finding another job can be a long and difficult process despite their credentials and an overall economic recovery.

This trend continues even as the labor market has improved nationally, with 729,000 jobs added since August, and in Oklahoma, where 8,800 new jobs were created in February, the most recent month measured.

Overall, the national job market has 1.96 million fewer jobs now than in 2001, and Oklahoma is behind 92,200 jobs since peaking in May 2001, according to federal and state statistics.

``What we're seeing this year and even through this winter is a reduction in new (jobless) claims,'' said Sharon Norris, programs manager at one of the commission's two Tulsa offices. ``But people are still out of work for a long time.''

Manufacturing, construction and the trades have been hit hardest in Oklahoma, with 12,800 fewer jobs in those categories in February 2004 versus February 2003, according to commission statistics released Thursday.

Oklahoma professionals other than finance and insurance workers have also been pummeled, losing 6,600 jobs year over year, with information technology, telecommunications and management taking the brunt.

Job loss is hard on every class of worker, but it can be quite a shock to highly trained workers who have believed their skills would forever be in demand and who are more accustomed to being recruited than laid off, officials said.

``A lot of them have never had to really hunt for a job,'' Norris said. ``After a year, it dons on them that they need some help from experts.''

Gann, who worked at Sanguine Ltd. for 13 years before the company was sold and the new owner began cutting costs, has worked in Oklahoma's energy industry for more than two decades.

She believes her accounting skills are so specialized she can only work in oil and gas, and those jobs are fewer and harder to find now than they were before the oil bust of the 1980s.

``I'm not now really marketable in other industries,'' Gann said. ``Back then you wanted to be in oil and gas because that was the leading industry in Tulsa. That's not the case anymore.''

Gann is relying on a year's pay as severance, and her husband is a self-employed attorney. Finding another job is not desperate yet, but the pair will run out of insurance benefits in the fall.

Others are not as fortunate.

Kim Russell, a single mother of three children, was fired three weeks ago from her job as an account recovery representative. It's the second time in two years the 34-year-old Tulsan has been out of work.

``Work is really hard to find,'' said Russell, who has a general equivalency diploma and never finished college. ``I'm underqualified. There's not many office jobs available unless you have higher education or one to two years experience.''

Russell was denied unemployment benefits and is paying bills with child support payments and help from family and friends. She says diabetes, carpal-tunnel syndrome and motion limitations from back surgery are complicating her job search.

The job market is particularly tough for people who have been fired, are aged, or have bad references or disabilities, Norris said. Being on the job hunt for an extended time can also be a hindrance.

``You sure can't afford to blow an interview,'' Norris said. ``You can't afford to send out a bad resume.''

There are signs the job market will continue to improve. Tulsa, which has lost 25,000 jobs in the last two years amid big layoffs at major employers, added 700 jobs in February, according to the commission.

Also, Oklahoma City-based Express Personnel Services, one of the nation's largest providers of temporary workers, says demand for its services are up 27 percent so far this year in Oklahoma. Some prognosticators see temporary hiring as a three- to six-month advance indicator of the overall job market.

``We've seen a lot of small- to medium-sized companies really ramping up whereas in the previous year they held tight not knowing how much work they would have,'' said Scott Davis, Oklahoma vice president for Express. ``Those companies are gaining confidence.''

But confidence is not what Elaine Sidwell is feeling.

The 46-year-old single woman lost her job supporting the accountants at Sanguine in October after 16 years. She's living on severance and has had just three interviews since November despite sending out more than 20 resumes.

``One job I was overqualified, another I was underqualified,'' Sidwell said. ``I had another interview last week where the job seemed about perfect, but I haven't heard anything back yet.''