P. M. BRIEFING : Employed Flood Jobless Hot Line

A national telephone hot line for the jobless was swamped by calls from about 500 people who are gainfully employed, many of them fearing layoffs in the coming year, sponsors of the call-in service said today.

“The response represents what we have seen in counseling discharged managers--a deepening sense of insecurity in the workplace,” said James E. Challenger, president of the counseling firm that ran the one-day hot line Thursday.

In its fourth annual national job search call-in, Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. opened its phone lines as a holiday gesture to assist those recently out of work. Challenger usually counsels workers sent to the firm after being discharged.

The one-day call-in drew about 1,000 calls, half of them from people who have jobs. The majority of employed callers--59%--were under 40 years of age. About 30% were in their 30s and 41% earned between $30,000 and $50,000.