Coronavirus crisis: Orange County deploys virtual one-stop resource center for job seekers, businesses
The county's workforce development board offers employment resources such as technology and loan-funding assistance for individuals and businesses.
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. (KABC) -- The coronavirus crisis has caused a devastating impact on the economy. Unemployment numbers have surged in Southern California and the U.S., swelling to levels last seen during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
One in 6 American workers have thrown out of a job by the pandemic, according to new data released Thursday.
Carma Lacy, Orange County's director of workforce and economic development, spoke to ABC7 in an interview in which she described what officials are doing to help people who are out of work.
Can you tell us more about the Orange County one-stop centers? Obviously, you've had to change the way they operate since the pandemic.
We deployed a virtual one-stop center so we can offer all of the services that would traditionally be offered in our one-stop systems online. We've also teamed up with community partners, such as Google Fiber and Orange County United Way, to provide a loaner technology. For our job seekers who don't have access to the internet or computers, they can borrow hot-spots and laptops at no cost.
OC officials expect to start easing COVID-19 restrictions in May
In addition, we deploy the Orange County Economic and Business Recovery Call Center at (714) 480-6500. This call center is a resource for businesses and job seekers to help them navigate all the COVID-19 related funding and all the supports that are available. The call center has representatives that can offer support in over 240 languages. Despite the pandemic, we're still offering our services at no cost and we're still assisting job seekers at every career and educational level.
During these times, a person may take this as an opportunity to change what they do. Do you have resources to help individuals discover these skills?
Our one-stop centers my training on how to develop functional resumes that highlight individuals' transferable skills, such as communication, problem-solving, leadership, research skills. In addition, this is a great opportunity to sharpen your skills whether or not you use our pre-training services available through the OC one-stop centers, our website or the CalJOBS platform.
We offer resources such as soft skills training, industry recognize credentials, 21st century job skills, financial literacy. You can discover your passion through a career-interest inventory. We're also providing labor, market information so that job seekers can make informed decisions about their careers and occupational outlook.
For more information, visit oconestop.com
