The September 11th attack | Coping with the aftermath
Hard times in the Islands

By John Duchemin and David Butts
Advertiser Staff Writers

Bob Kembo fought back tears as he reflected on his situation. The Zippy's cook was laid off Oct. 5 and hasn't gotten any unemployment checks yet.

The unemployment compensation office on Punchbowl Street is busy all day every day as the after-effects of Sept. 11 continue to ripple through the local economy, separating people from their jobs at a time when alternative employment is scarcer than ever. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

A year ago, Kembo applied at Zippy's and got called in for work three days later. Now he's on his third week of job hunting with zero callbacks.

For Kembo and thousands of other Hawai'i residents, the job market looks grim. The Sept. 11 attacks caused tourism to plummet and forced hotels, airlines and retailers to drastically trim their work force.

With the state's economy slowing even before Sept. 11, new-job creation is unable to absorb those laid off. The few industries still hiring — including health care, computer services and security companies — are flooded with applications. Job hunters are being forced to take jobs at a lower level and with less pay.

Legislators met in special session the past two weeks, hoping to come up with measures to stimulate the economy and stem the flood of layoffs. They passed an extension of unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies for laid off workers. They also increased spending on tourism promotion by $10 million, improved airport security and passed a bill giving tax credits for hotel and residential renovations.

Still, the total number of jobs in the state is expected to decline for the next several quarters.

University of Hawai'i forecasters Carl Bonham and Byron Gangnes say the state is in a recession that will last through the first six months of 2002, during which the unemployment rate will rise to about 5.5 percent — and stay there through 2003. That's about one percentage point above pre-Sept. 11 levels — meaning about 6,000 more unemployed workers.

Another forecaster, University of Hawai'i labor economist Lawrence Boyd, predicts even higher joblessness, based on a statistical evaluation of how jobs have reacted to past changes in the income growth rate.

Boyd sees unemployment rising to as high as 6 or 7 percent by January or February. That would mean 36,000 to 42,000 of the state's approximately 600,000 workers would be out of a job.

"When the economy is declining, unemployment tends to be cumulative, and the length of unemployment tends to rise," Boyd said.

The hotel, retail and transportation sectors will be the hardest hit, because tourism has borne the brunt of the economic shock, the forecasters say. Bonham and Gangnes said the hotel industry is expected to lose 6,400 workers, about 16 percent of the hotel work force, by the first quarter of next year.

Transportation will lose 2,700 jobs. People like Alii Savaiinaea, a driver with United Laundry who delivered clean sheets and towels to Waikiki hotels until he was laid off on Oct. 15.

"No tourism, no money, no work," complained Savaiinaea, Retail is expected to lose about 5,000 jobs.

In this undeniably gloomy environment, jobless Hawai'i residents are growing anxious.

Fierce competition

State jobless benefits don't go far. The Legislature, meeting in special session, was finalizing bills that could extend benefits to nine months from six and partially subsidize health insurance for the unemployed. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Competition is fierce for available jobs. Kembo, the former Zippy's cook, said he has put in 12 job applications, but "every place I go I can hear 'We just laid off a couple guys. Business is slow. We might call you.'" Employers are picking the top three candidates out of 100 applicants, he said.

More than 17,000 Hawai'i residents have filed for unemployment claims in the past six weeks. Many of these claimants are considered "partially unemployed" — they have had their hours cut, or are contractually tied to their former employer — but more than half are completely out of work, according to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

About 7,000 people attended a job fair at the Hawai'i Convention Center a week ago, hoping to get one of the 2,000 job openings offered by private employers, social service organizations and schools.

Employers who advertise openings find themselves deluged with applicants. That happened to Dean Okada, the operations manager for Genki Sushi, who has been seeking workers for the restaurant chain's expanded Kapahulu branch and holiday season jobs at other locations.

"We had a big response," Okada said. "We're getting people who have been laid off from restaurants, hotels, construction workers. Before all this bombing, there was just a handful. Now it's coming in by the bundles, since Sunday, 30 to 40 apps per store."

The applicants are more motivated than before, Okada added.

"It's so bad right now," he said. "Everybody needs a job. Everybody is kind of hungry and willing to work."

Some job seekers are looking for work in completely new fields, even if the result is a substantial demotion or pay cut.

"People that are calling us, they are very willing to take any job," said Beverly Marica, regional vice president of Adecco Personnel and Adecco Technical Services Hawaii. "People who were in management positions are willing to take file-clerk jobs, and we have IT people, computer programmers, who say they will take anything."

Laws to help unemployed

The state government is finalizing several bills that could make life easier for unemployed Hawai'i residents.

In the special session concluded Friday, the Legislature voted to extend to nine months the duration of unemployment insurance for jobless workers, up from six months.

The Legislature also approved about $5 million to subsidize two healthcare programs for laid-off workers. One program would provide bare-bones coverage — up to 12 doctor visits per year — at a cost of $60 a month for workers who lost their jobs after Sept. 11 and have no other insurance options.

The other program would subsidize insurance costs for three months for people who lost their jobs, but are continuing to get care coverage under their prior employers' insurance plans. The maximum benefit is $125 per month for single people and $315 for families.

Another bill would create an "emergency environmental work force," for which 400 to 450 people who lost their jobs after Sept. 11 would be employed by the Research Corporation of the University of Hawai'i to isolate dengue fever and kill exotic frogs, ants and plants that threaten the environment. The appropriation for that work force is $1.5 million, meaning the state could afford to pay 450 people minimum wage for about three months.

Some industries still hiring

Employment experts said job seekers should not give up hope. They said some industries are still hiring at the same pace as before Sept. 11 — for example healthcare, where nurses and other medical staffers are always needed. Demand is still relatively strong for office workers with computer skills, several temporary staffing officials said.

People may have to switch industries, or take a lesser job than they had, but eventually they will find something to pay the bills, Marica said.

"Without a doubt, more jobs are being lost now than there are available positions, but there are industries that are hiring," Marica said. "These may not be the fantastic jobs people have had, but hard times, sometimes, could actually be opportunities. You just have to be willing to explore them. People will be making their way into fields they never even thought of."

Experts recommend job training, especially through several government-subsidized programs. Training will come in handy in the current job market — not only because newfound skills help applicants stand out from the crowd, but also because many companies are culling their work forces of the least-skilled employees, said Judy Bishop, general manager of Select Staffing in Honolulu.

"A lot of companies are looking to economize in ways that may not involve massive layoffs," Bishop said. "They may let go five people without certain skills, then bring in five more who have new skills. A lot of that is going on right now, as a direct result of Sept. 11 and the slowing economy."

Experts also advised job-seekers to be tireless in pursuit of new work.

"Get up every day as if finding a job is what you do, and you'll find a job," said Kerry Kopp, president of Honolulu temporary staffing firm Altres Staffing. "If you really want to find work, you have to get up early in the morning, hit the newspaper ads, send out X amount of resumes, and make it a point to line up three, four, five interviews a week. It's not easy, it's certainly not pleasant to have to do that, but if you can discipline yourself, you'll land a job."