Funding cutbacks within the provincial government is shutting the doors of the Career and Business Development Network.
CBD’s employment assistance program specifically designed for people with high-end skill sets and/or a professional designation/post-secondary education is set to close in May.
“I am just dumbstruck at the news. I know how great they are because I went through their program and successfully found employment,” said Dianne McEvoy, who has found employment because of the training and since set out to become an entrepreneur. “There is so little out there that assists the unemployed. I can’t fathom the logic of this decision. The government is saving money at the expense of the unemployed.”
When McEvoy was laid off as a legal assistant, she wasn’t sure where to turn. Intimidated at how the new economy has made it difficult to find jobs, she turned to Work Zone for assistance. Work Zone mainly deals with the manual labour sector and referred McEvoy to the CBD Network. It was here where she was taught that her skill set opened up many doors of employment, not just as a legal assistant. Some of the things McEvoy learned are how to tweak her resume, interviewing with potential employers and how to network.
“To me it was invaluable in building self-esteem and building the confidence in going to the job interviews. They took us to networking functions to meet potential employers and market ourselves,” said McEvoy. “It is a shame that the government needs to cut back on organizations that help the unemployed get back employment.”
McEvoy said others in her group at CBD were talking about having to move back to the Lower Mainland or to Alberta because they couldn’t find any work here.
“At a time when we need more people coming to the Okanagan to develop more industry and workers, we now all of sudden have people saying we have to leave because we can’t find work. It’s a shame,” said McEvoy.
McEvoy is now looking at starting her own temporary agency business called Falcon Business Services to help place unemployed workers in the region.
The CBD office employs four people all of whom were given notice that as of May 31, they will be out of work. Julie-Ann Miller, manager at CBD, said the office in Vernon will also be shut down while the one in Kelowna will remain open to service the now larger area.
“There is a new process that is going to happen in 2012 and we all thought our contracts would be extended to the new time frame and then we would be part of the new process. Apparently the province of British Columbia is out of money so they are making cuts,” said Miller.
In the last four and a half years, Miller said they have seen nearly 500 skilled professionals come through their doors for assistance with an 80 per cent success rate of finding employment. Now that support will not be available to them through the CBD.
“The government feels that Work Zone, who is the provider for most support, probably do what we have done but we have a very unique program. They claim that the general employment support can help professionals but we find that professionals need to have a unique perspective. Often they aren’t people who have had to look for work before and it is a new process for them. We have to give them a plan that helps them to move forward, it is something that we have been very successful at,” said Miller. “It is a mystery as to why the program is being cut, other than there is no money. Considering the Okanagan has a higher level of unemployment it is unusual this would be taken away.”