Summary

State workforce development agencies offer Rapid Response assistance to alleviate upheavals and dislocation caused by major plant closings or layoffs. The assistance varies according to the nature and size of the business and number of workers affected by its downsizing or closing. In Nebraska, the Department of Labor's Office of Workforce Services is the designated Dislocated Worker Unit. It coordinates Rapid Response assistance with employers and agencies that offer help to dislocated workers. 

Nebraska Workforce Development Rapid Response taps the O*NET system to provide customized job search assistance. Rapid Response and LMI Center staff use O*NET skills, abilities and knowledge associated with affected workers' occupations to help individuals identify and describe their experience and skills. The team also uses O*NET to identify a broad range of related occupations workers might consider for future employment. 
 

How is O*NET being used?

When the Nebraska Dislocated Worker Unit learns of a plant closing, the LMI Center joins other agencies in providing assistance. It offers customized career exploration and job search assistance using the O*NET system in conjunction with State Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) Survey data. Both O*NET OnLine and OES are based on the new Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). 

To prepare for a Rapid Response program, the LMI Center staff use OES Survey data to identify occupational staffing patterns for the type of business to be served. Next they relate the OES job titles and codes to O*NET occupations and obtain the list of knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) associated with each job in O*NET. The O*NET KSAs are used to help affected workers identify and describe their work-related skills and experience in preparing résumés and job applications. 

In addition, Rapid Response and the LMI Center staff do specific skills searches of the O*NET database to identify other occupations that require the same or similar sets of skills. This opens up a wider range of occupational possibilities for the affected workers. Using OES data, staff members assemble both wage and employment outlook information for these related occupations. These customized materials are given to participants in the Rapid Response workshops. Information about training available to dislocated workers also is presented in Rapid Response sessions. Workers are shown how they can use O*NET to assess whether a particular type of training would help them qualify for new career possibilities. 

In some cases, the workshop timetable allows for participants to use O*NET OnLine and other Internet resources for individual queries after the formal session ends. Workers are also referred to their local employment services or One-Stop Centers for further individual assistance. 
 

Who is your target population?

Employees in businesses that are closing down, relocating to a different geographical area, or undergoing major layoffs. 
 

What kind of results is O*NET helping you to achieve?

The O*NET KSAs help workers understand the skills they have acquired in their current jobs and how to describe them in seeking new employment. It gives them both insight and terminology for preparing job applications and résumés. The KSAs also enable workers to identify a wider range of occupations related to their skills and experience. This may open up new employment and career possibilities. Workers can then use O*NET and OES information to learn more about these new possibilities. They can also use O*NET to determine what additional training they may need and to assess whether a specific kind of training would be appropriate. 
 

What are the related program initiatives?

State Rapid Response assistance extends to many other services for dislocated workers, offered by various State and local agencies. The Nebraska Dislocated Worker Unit coordinates the effort. The LMI Center draws on the OES program to prepare its presentations. 
 

Is your product, program or service available for others to use?

The Nebraska Rapid Response programs are customized to suit a particular establishment's personnel and logistical needs. However, many of the handouts they use are printed from pertinent sections of O*NET OnLine. 
 

What other strategies make your product, program or service successful?

Tailoring materials and presentations to a particular establishment's workforce is very important to the success of a program. Access to OES Survey information about the type of affected firms is critical in targeting the skills of workers in need of immediate employment assistance and customizing the Rapid Response materials. OES data are also used to help workers evaluate potential career opportunities in new or related fields. One of the program's strengths is its use of multiple resources within the OES and O*NET systems to meet specific client needs. 
 

Other pertinent information.

Nebraska Workforce Development's LMI Center also uses O*NET OnLine in workshops for the Transition Assistance Program at Offutt Air Force Base. Alabama and California have also used O*NET data in programs to help dislocated workers (see related O*NET in Action stories).
 

Contact information.

Kris Howe 
Rapid Response 
Nebraska Workforce Development, Nebraska Dept. of Labor 
PO Box 94600 
Lincoln, NE 68509-4600 
telephone: 402/471-9878 
e-mail: khowe@dol.state.ne.us