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unemployment numbers seen in other states. Even so, Lawrence has seen jobThe political rhetoric less numbers nearly double is amping up in advance since 2006, from 3.4 percent of next year’s presidential to 6.4 percent as of August, election. And the public, the according to the Bureau of media and politicians are Labor Statistics. talking a lot about jobs: how Every change up or down to save them and how to in local unemployment create them. numbers has an impact on a The numbers show that local person or family. Lawrence and Kansas have “The numbers don’t tell been spared the double-digit the story,” said Doug HousBy Shaun Hittle
sdhittle@ljworld.com
ton, a professor of economics at Kansas University. “There are a lot of different stories.” They’re stories, however, that often go untold. In a nine-part JournalWorld special series starting today, some of those stories will be told, giving snapshots of how the local workforce is adjusting to a much different employment outlook.
Our series will look at several areas of the local job market. We’ll tell the story of a local woman who has worked 44 temporary jobs since 2003, trying to make ends meet in an economy with few permanent openings. We’ll look at what it’s like for military veterans when they return from service, looking to re-enter the local job market. And we’ll see
how employment assistance professionals, people who make their living helping others make a living, are adjusting how they help get people jobs. They’re stories that highlight the shifting national and local job market. “Everything’s changed and keeps changing,” Houston said. “We’re dealing with a different world.”
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
ALONZO ROBINSON, a 54-year-old machine operator, sorts through packets of concrete cleaner for packaging during his shift on Thursday at Prosoco, 3741 Greenway Circle. Unhappy with his former full-time job, Robinson quit for a temporary position with Prosoco that eventually turned full time.
Temp jobs help bridge employment gaps By Shaun Hittle sdhittle@ljworld.com
In the last several years, Perry resident Carrie Vess-Sheley, 37, has worked just about everywhere as a temporary worker for Lawrence-based staffing agency Express Employment Professionals. Accounting, administrative assisting, manual labor, sports concession stands, and staffing demonstration tables at area stores on the weekends; in total, Vess-Sheley has worked 44 different jobs since 2003. The mother of five said she’s not bothered by new work environments and actually enjoys
Alonzo Robinson the frequent change of pace. “I’m pretty flexible,” she said. “It works for me.” Vess-Sheley is part of an emerging trend in the country and Kansas, as the number of temporary workers has spiked in the past two years. Barry Kingery, co-owner of
Express Employment Professionals, said his office was seeing more and more clients turning to temporary work after being laid off during the economic downturn. “Looks a lot like our graph,” said Kingery as he examined national and state numbers for temporary workers. As of August 2011, there were about 2.2 million temporary workers in the country on an average day, up from less than 1.8 million in 2009. State numbers for 2011 aren’t yet available, but temporary workers increased from about 15,800 in 2009 to nearly 18,000 per day in 2010. For businesses, the poor em-
ployment outlook has raised the quality of temporary workers, said Nate Scott, branch manager at the Sedona Group. Many of those overqualified workers, however, have to settle for less pay than they’re used to. “People are accepting a lot less,” said Scott, adding that his office is seeing more clients with master’s and even doctoral degrees. But “it’s a paycheck,” he said. Scott said his agency has from 25 to 75 workers on its payroll at any given time, working at everything from lowerpaying manual labor to medical Please see TEMP, page 2A
Spread the word: Texting bans can be enforced
By George Diepenbrock gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com
A Kansas University professor who studies distracted driving behaviors says Kansas law enforcement agencies could learn lesson from Illinois on how to crack down on drivers who send text messages behind the wheel. “It really is just whether or not it’s a priority,” said Paul Atchley, a KU associate professor of psychology who participated in a summit about distracted driving in Illinois earlier this year. Since January, Kansas officers have had authority to ticket motorists who send electronic messages while they’re driving, but the law has been used sparingly so far this year in Douglas County. Officers have written eight tickets in Douglas County District Court, and six of those occurred after accidents in which drivers admitted to sending a message before a crash. Lawrence police as of last week had issued 15 tickets for texting and driving, according to municipal court. Kansas officers have said the law is difficult to enforce because it can be tough to tell if a driver is sending a text, email or instant message, which is illegal, versus dialing a phone number, which is legal. But Atchley said Illinois law enforcement has had better results since its texting-and-driving ban took effect in January 2010. According to statistics, the Illinois State Police wrote more than 900 tickets and warnings for texting in 2010, and Atchley said state leaders made an effort to reach out to judges and helped educate officers about how to best to identify — in ways that would hold up in court — that drivers were texting. For example, officers were taught to watch more for drivers who looked down at their phones for long periods of time to make it more likely they sent messages instead of simply dialing numbers. Atchley said the methods have proven to be effective. “You have to start with enforcing laws vigorously,” he said. Josh Kauffman, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Please see TEXTING, page 2A
There’s a clear case for recycling glass By Christine Metz cmetz@ljworld.com
From salsa to beer, glass jars and bottles contain some of our favorite things. But recycling those glass containers hasn’t always come easy for Lawrence. The glass packaging industry marks September as Recycle Glass Month in an effort to raise awareness of its goal to use 50 percent of recycled content for the manufacturing of all new jars Kevin Anderson/Journal-World Photo and bottles by 2013. Lawrence and the rest of the country THE WALMART COMMUNITY RECYCLING CENTER, 3300 Iowa, is one of fall far short of that goal. two places in town to recycle glass. The other is the 12th and Haskell Traditionally, recycling glass posed more challenges than other materials Recycling Center, 1146 Haskell Ave.
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because it injured those working with it, clogged machines, required a lot of energy to recycle and was heavy to transport. Until recently glass recycling in Lawrence had been limited to the Walmart Community Recycling Center and a few small curbside recycling operations. Local glass recycling efforts received a boost in 2009 when Boulevard Brewing Co. launched Ripple Glass, a glass-processing plant that worked with Kansas City metro communities to increase recycling efforts. Inspired by Ripple Glass, the city of Lawrence issued a request for
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proposals seeking a glass-recycling facility to set up drop-off locations throughout the city for glass just as there are for paper, plastic and aluminum. Recycling glass is a worthy endeavor, said Lawrence Mayor Aron Cromwell, who has doggedly urged the city to provide more options for glass recycling. Because glass is so heavy and the city pays for landfill space by the ton, Cromwell said finding ways to keep glass out of the landfill saves everyone money. Please see GLASS, page 2A
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