Employment Connection to layoff 12

Community Service and Employment Training (CSET), a non-profit organization that contracts with the Workforce Investment Board (WIB) and operates three Employment Connection One-Stop Centers in Tulare County, will be laying off 12 people, effective June 30.

Three people at the Porterville office have been handed pink slips, three in Tulare, and six in Visalia, CSET Deputy Director, Mary Alice Escarcega, confirmed Monday.

“The funding that the WIB receives, which provides funding for Employment Connection One-Stop Centers, received a 30 percent reduction in funds,” WIB Deputy Director David McMunn said.

The WIB receives funding from the California Employment Development Department, Workforce Services Division, who receives funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, McMunn explained.

The WIB, in turn, provides funding for CSET who determines, based on its budget, if it will keep fewer staff for the coming fiscal year.

“We’re funded based on a formula, which is based on unemployment and poverty rates...It doesn’t mean we have fewer needs, but other areas’ needs may have changed,” McMunn said.

“It’s unfortunate that there’s less money to help all those Tulare County residents who are seeking employment but the reality of funding we received this year is significantly less than the last.”

The One-Stop Centers are a collaboration between many local agencies, including the EDD, to help job seekers by offering training, job leads, and workshops among other services.

According to Escarcega, after the layoffs, CSET will staff 10 people in Porterville, nine in Tulare, and one in the Visalia office.

Because the fourth Employment Connection office, located in Dinuba, is operated through Proteus, it will not be affected by the funding reduction.

Contact Denise Madrid at784-5000, Ext. 1047 or dmadrid@portervillerecorder.com.