About the Initiative
Layoffs and plant closings have deprived thousands of rural North Carolinians of their livelihood, replacing financial security, albeit modest, with long-term unemployment and reduced earnings. The Rural Dislocated Worker Initiative will reshape North Carolina's response to this social and economic upheaval through a combination of research, direct service demonstration projects, and public policy development and advocacy. The Rural Center undertakes this initiative in partnership with state, local and nonprofit agencies involved in workforce development, economic development and human services.
Dislocated workers: a definition
Dislocated workers represent a particular segment of the unemployed and underemployed population. They have lost jobs through no fault of their own, to events such as plant closings and layoffs. In rural North Carolina, those plants were largely in declining industries that long formed this state's traditional industrial base — textiles, apparel, furniture and tobacco products — and are unlikely to return. Many dislocated workers labored their entire adult lives in the same plant. With primarily low-skill jobs available in their communities, they had followed family tradition, leaving high school before earning a diploma to take their place in the factory. They are largely ill-prepared to make the transition to new economy jobs that require higher-level skills and technical know-how.
The evolution of North Carolina's rural economy
Beginning in the late 19th century, North Carolina built an economy based on manufacturing. It eventually became one of the most industrialized states in the nation, and by 1970, manufacturing accounted for nearly a third of the state's total employment.
In rural communities, industrialization took the form of labor-intensive factories requiring large numbers of low-skill, low-wage workers. These were dominated by what became North Carolina's "big three" traditional manufacturing industries: textiles, apparel and furniture, with tobacco products representing another major sector. Together they formed the economic foundation of many rural North Carolina towns. With few competing sources of employment, a single factory often became the economic engine of a community.
North Carolina's rural workers earned high praise for loyalty and hard work, but forces outside their control chipped away at jobs. Beginning in the 1970s, companies began to mechanize plants and adopt other technologies that reduced their need for labor. Then, as global markets opened, American factories found themselves unable to compete with lower labor costs and limited regulations in developing countries. Outsourcing and offshoring became facts of life, and jobs in traditional manufacturing — those at the heart of the rural economy — dwindled further. Nearly half of rural counties experienced a net loss of manufacturing jobs in the 1980s, and these losses continued throughout the '90s. Despite this, manufacturing was still rural North Carolina's largest employer in 2000, accounting for 26 percent of all rural workers.
To some extent, the pain in rural areas was masked by overall growth in the state economy. While traditional, rural manufacturing jobs declined, statewide manufacturing employment grew until 1995. But it was growing in fields that required higher-skilled employees, and these companies located in more urban areas, often where they had easy access to university expertise and graduates. The service sector also grew, and in urban counties the service and trade industries became the dominant employers.
The recession of 2001 intensified the decline of rural manufacturing. Factories already under pressure crumbled. Layoffs and plant closings skyrocketed, sending reverberations throughout their communities. Between early 2002 and early 2005, North Carolina suffered a net loss of 84,000 manufacturing jobs. This included 39,000 jobs in textiles and apparel and 10,000 in the furniture industry. Because the cutbacks generally reflected ongoing, structural changes in the economy, these jobs were unlikely to return.
The downward trend continues. On January 1, 2005, most quotas that previously limited the importation of textiles and apparel were lifted, and tariffs were reduced to levels closer to those found on other manufactured goods. As the recession had triggered a chain reaction of job losses throughout the economy, these policy changes set off another chain reaction of job losses in the apparel and textile industries. Job losses continue to occur in these critical industries for rural North Carolina.
Workers left in the lurch
As they have searched for new jobs, workers from traditional industries have been hampered by the lack of other sources of employment in their communities and by their own modest educational levels. Of those laid off in 2002, only 55 percent found work within a year, and those new jobs paid, on average, only 82 percent of their previous earnings.
A myriad of federal, state and local programs address unemployment and workforce development. Some are targeted specifically to dislocated workers. But there are many gaps and other shortcomings in available services, and navigating among them can be confusing and discouraging. (Research reports provide a more thorough analysis. For more, click here.) With the Rural Dislocated Worker Initiative, the Rural Center seeks to redress these problems and promote a coherent system of policies and programs that offer short- and long-term solutions for workers, their families and their communities.
The Rural Dislocated Worker Initiative
The initiative promotes solutions that complement traditional public programs by focusing community-based resources on local priorities. Equally important, in terms of transforming the lives of dislocated workers and the evolution of rural communities, the initiative recognizes the need to raise the educational levels of displaced workers, creating a system for training and retraining for high-demand jobs and for self-employment. In addition, it promotes changes in policies and programs to more effectively provide the career counseling and employment services that link education and jobs. And it seeks to provide dislocated workers and their families with the help they need to keep a roof over their heads, to put food on the table and to ensure that their children are cared for and that they have reliable transportation, all important in enabling them to participate in training and to find work. Among the initiative's components:
Research
The center has produced the first statistics on rural dislocated workers in North Carolina. A subsequent report details best practices among programs from around the nation assisting dislocated workers.
Demonstration projects
Two projects demonstrate new approaches to helping dislocated workers find new employment. One employs community-based organizations to help workers navigate the workforce development network and provide training and supplemental assistance. The other provides training, technical assistance, and other services for the self-employed.
Public policy development and advocacy
The Rural Center has joined with partners statewide to focus attention on rural dislocated workers and to craft a new, comprehensive response to this critical issue. The Rural Center’s coordination role began with the Rural Dislocated Worker Summit in September 2004 and culminated in April 2005 with the release of the report “Gaining a Foothold” and 10-point action agenda. The North Carolina Commission on Workforce Development established a Dislocated Worker Task Force to build on the foundation laid by the action agenda.
