Tough Times Just Seem to Get Tougher : A Victim of High-Tech Decline : Economy: The ranks of the newly unemployed include aerospace and other white-collar workers, many of whom have never been jobless.

During the 25 years that Ezequiel Varela worked as an engineer, he and his family spent freely on expensive clothes, entertainment and fine dining.

But now, the 49-year-old father of five says the family can no longer afford such extravagances. Varela, who lives in Covina, worked as a software engineer for General Dynamics in Pomona for eight years, until he was laid off Aug. 23. He said this is the first time he has been jobless since leaving college in 1961.

According to the latest figures from the state Department of Finance, 1.1 million Californians were out of work in November, 1991, compared with 957,000 in November, 1990.

In the San Gabriel Valley, unemployment figures surveyed late last year ran from El Monte’s high of 10.9% to San Marino’s low of 2.4%. Although workers in all fields have suffered job losses, the biggest jolt has been to white-collar workers like Varela, many of whom have never been unemployed.

The decline in high technology jobs in the aerospace industry and electronics field is partly caused by the recession and by companies streamlining, said Pat Fugami, a state research analyst. In December, 1987, there were 746,000 high-tech jobs in California, she said; by last October, that was down to 635,000.

Richard Day, a USC economics professor, said one of the major reasons for the weak economy is the federal government’s cutbacks in defense spending. “We had a massive defense budget under the Reagan (Administration),” Day said. “During a recession you don’t want to cut expenditures, and that’s what’s happening.

“The government needs to be spending at this time and give people jobs, and then later on it can worry about the deficit.”

Those cutbacks mean many workers in the aerospace industry are losing their jobs, said Trudy Huyck, a job coordinator with the state Employment Development Department in West Covina. Many of these people are not used to being jobless, she said.

Huyck runs Networking Experience Unlimited, a state self-help program for unemployed professionals. Members help each other during workshops on resume writing and interview techniques.

Varela, who began orientation at NEU on Dec. 16, had been making $49,000 a year at his old job. Now, he receives $840 a month in unemployment benefits. He still has about $4,000 in savings, left over from a home-improvement loan he took out shortly before he lost his job. There is no money for health insurance, he said.

“What if the children get sick?” he asked. “It’s frustrating. I tell them to take Vitamin C and eat lots of oranges.”

Ernie Cardona of Baldwin Park has been a member of NEU since August. In April, he lost his position as a manager at the Northrop Corp. Electronics Systems Division in Hawthorne. He, too, is out of work for the first time.

“Every single day I look for a job,” he said. “It’s very stressful. There’s no income for the house payments, and property taxes, car insurance and house insurance are due.”

Cardona, 42, said he has no idea what he will do to make ends meet. Although he gets about $800 a month in unemployment benefits, his house payment is $1,300. There is no money for necessities, let alone to help support four children who live with his former wife.

“Forget the food,” he said. “There’s no food. Sometimes my sister supplies me with some. It’s sad. I (couldn’t) afford to buy my children Christmas gifts.”

Cardona said he has sent out more than 100 resumes. The typical response: No job.

Aerospace firms are not the only businesses that are cutting back. Many job losses have been due to banks eliminating positions by consolidating their management staffs, Day said.

Last October, Naomi Gray’s job was phased out when the automation department at Security Pacific Corp. in Glendale moved to Los Angeles. Gray, 37, a divorced mother of two, had worked at Security Pacific for 12 years.

Gray was luckier than others: She got nine months severance pay. She and her two children, ages 14 and 20, live in Duarte with her sister and their elderly parents, who recently immigrated from the Philippines. To make ends meet, everyone pitches in. Her mother, sister and older daughter all work part time.

Still, “it’s hard,” Gray said. “You have to stretch everything. The food bill is $500 a month. I use coupons, though, to save.”

Gray wants to find a day job so she can go to school at night, to study physical therapy. “Finding a job is very hard, you need a lot of skills,” she said.

Recently, Gray applied at Security Pacific Bank in Glendora and was told that 25 people were ahead of her for the two advertised openings.

“I have to think positive or else,” Gray said. “Everything is a challenge. But I have faith in God. He controls my life.”

Jobs aren’t plentiful for blue-collar workers, either.

From 1959 until 1986, Jesus Gomez made his living painting cars. But after chemicals in the paint began irritating his throat, he was forced to learn another trade. Gomez took shop classes at Pasadena City College and had no problem finding steady work as a machinist.

Then, in June, he was laid off from Belshire Industries in Pasadena, where he repaired maintenance equipment. He hasn’t been able to find another job. With his $484 in unemployment benefits about to run out, the father of two barely has enough money to pay utility bills.

But he may be eligible for a 13-week extension under the recent federal law after he gets his last check, according to Job Service in Pasadena.

Meanwhile, USC’s Day predicts that the economy will stay sluggish for at least a year or two. He added that it will take between three and four years to bounce back to normal, though that won’t match the booming mid-1980s, he said.

Once his benefits run out, Gomez, 56, said he will get by doing odd jobs, such as polishing and waxing floors.

“I worry and can’t sleep sometimes,” he said. “I worry about paying the rent and taking care of my two children. If I seem confident, it’s because I believe God will take care of me and not let me starve to death.”