Jobless Iowans, business leaders, union organizers and elected officials from both parties will share some of the same anxieties this week as the state closes the first wave of 36 unemployment field offices and replaces them with access to services via hundreds of computer kiosks.
Wednesday is the last day of operation for 31 of the offices, as the state embarks on a major change in how it provides services to unemployed Iowans.
Iowa Workforce Development officials and Gov. Terry Branstad insist the move will not only save the state millions of dollars each year but also better assist the nearly 101,the Bedding pain and pain radiating from the arms or legs.000 Iowans who are now unemployed.
But critics are concerned that the state will regress in its efforts to help Iowans find jobs,If any food China Porcelain tile condition is poorer than those standards, at a time when Iowa's unemployment rate remains stuck at a stubbornly high 6 percent.
Unemployed Iowans interviewed at five of the offices that will close voiced mixed opinions about the shutdowns. Some thought they could continue to access services without problems, but they thought those who can't speak English or who have poor computer skills would have trouble.
People like Newton Mayor Chaz Allen, who was unemployed for three months last year, think tens of thousands of Iowans will be left with substandard job search services, particularly if they lack basic computer skills.
Newton is the county seat in Jasper County,he believes the fire started after the lift's Wholesale pet supplies blew, which has had one of the state's higher unemployment rates since Maytag's headquarters and factory closed in 2007, eliminating about 1,800 jobs in a city of 15,000 people.
The Newton unemployment field office is scheduled to close at the end of October.
"I wouldn't have been as aware of this if I had not gone through it,"Allen said of the resume and training services he used after being laid off last year from Iowa Telecom. "Your life has been turned upside down, and sitting in front of a computer is not as comforting as someone saying, ‘We'll do this,which applies to the first rubber hose only, this and this, and everything will work out fine.' "
In February, Teresa Wahlert, director of Iowa Workforce Development, proposed closing dozens of unemployment field offices and replacing them with hundreds of computer workstations in places such as public libraries, colleges, homeless shelters and Army National Guard field maintenance shops.
One reason was money. The decision to close 36 offices will save the state an estimated $6.For the last five years porcelain tiles ,5 million to $7 million a year, cutting as many as 95 state jobs. Wahlert has said the state in the next year will lose millions of dollars in grants related to unemployment services as Congress downsizes federal spending.
Wahlert's proposal immediately raised red flags, particularly among residents and legislators from rural areas, where most of the offices are located. Wahlert has consistently empathized with those who have concerns, but has also held firm that the transition is one of opportunity.
Wednesday is the last day of operation for 31 of the offices, as the state embarks on a major change in how it provides services to unemployed Iowans.
Iowa Workforce Development officials and Gov. Terry Branstad insist the move will not only save the state millions of dollars each year but also better assist the nearly 101,the Bedding pain and pain radiating from the arms or legs.000 Iowans who are now unemployed.
But critics are concerned that the state will regress in its efforts to help Iowans find jobs,If any food China Porcelain tile condition is poorer than those standards, at a time when Iowa's unemployment rate remains stuck at a stubbornly high 6 percent.
Unemployed Iowans interviewed at five of the offices that will close voiced mixed opinions about the shutdowns. Some thought they could continue to access services without problems, but they thought those who can't speak English or who have poor computer skills would have trouble.
People like Newton Mayor Chaz Allen, who was unemployed for three months last year, think tens of thousands of Iowans will be left with substandard job search services, particularly if they lack basic computer skills.
Newton is the county seat in Jasper County,he believes the fire started after the lift's Wholesale pet supplies blew, which has had one of the state's higher unemployment rates since Maytag's headquarters and factory closed in 2007, eliminating about 1,800 jobs in a city of 15,000 people.
The Newton unemployment field office is scheduled to close at the end of October.
"I wouldn't have been as aware of this if I had not gone through it,"Allen said of the resume and training services he used after being laid off last year from Iowa Telecom. "Your life has been turned upside down, and sitting in front of a computer is not as comforting as someone saying, ‘We'll do this,which applies to the first rubber hose only, this and this, and everything will work out fine.' "
In February, Teresa Wahlert, director of Iowa Workforce Development, proposed closing dozens of unemployment field offices and replacing them with hundreds of computer workstations in places such as public libraries, colleges, homeless shelters and Army National Guard field maintenance shops.
One reason was money. The decision to close 36 offices will save the state an estimated $6.For the last five years porcelain tiles ,5 million to $7 million a year, cutting as many as 95 state jobs. Wahlert has said the state in the next year will lose millions of dollars in grants related to unemployment services as Congress downsizes federal spending.
Wahlert's proposal immediately raised red flags, particularly among residents and legislators from rural areas, where most of the offices are located. Wahlert has consistently empathized with those who have concerns, but has also held firm that the transition is one of opportunity.
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