6,000 Crowd Job Fair in Search of Work

In a poignant reminder of Southern California’s economic doldrums, an estimated 6,000 job seekers showed up at a job fair Friday on the grounds of the shuttered General Motors plant in Panorama City, a turnout that to one government official recalled the Great Depression.

At the opening of the fair, job seekers formed a quarter-mile queue of hope and despair at the plant. Among them was John Lockley, 31, of Reseda, who hasn’t had a steady job since 1987.

“I want work, work, work--anything that’ll pay me,” Lockley, a thin man wearing a Dodger baseball cap, said after filling out an application for a job with the city Department of Water and Power.

One of the local elected officials who sponsored the event said he was saddened by its success.

“I feel like I’m looking at the soup lines of 1929,” said state Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys).

“There’s an incredible diversity of people,” state Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman (D-North Hollywood) told reporters. “Most of the time these job fairs attract people who are young and unskilled, but we’re seeing engineers and architects and other professional people here today.”

More than 50 employers participated, ranging from Pinkerton and Primerica Financial Services to Warner Bros. They were offering positions for security guards, accountants and clerks.

A prerequisite for companies taking part in the event was that they actually have jobs available, said Tom Waldman, an aide to U.S. Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), another sponsor. He pointed to the irony of the fair’s being held at the GM plant, which was closed in August, 1992, idling 2,600 workers.

“The last time I saw a crowd this big here, they were inside--working,” said Lou Baldwin, a 25-year veteran of GM who is now enrolled in a retraining program at the plant. “That’s why it’s sad to see so many people out here today.”

Baldwin, a former supervisor with the auto maker, is drawing full pay as he studies for his high school equivalency exam. During a study break, he came outside to watch people coming and going from the job fair.

“I saw a lot of people with sad faces, people who don’t have anything,” Baldwin said from behind a chain-link fence separating the plant from the parking lot where the fair was put on.

Many of the job-seekers Friday were young people looking for their first serious job. One of those was Sara Barnes, 20, of Panorama City, who recently quit her job as a waitress to look for better work. On Friday, Barnes applied for jobs at TicketMaster and a cosmetics supply company.

“TicketMaster sounds like a lot of fun, you know, selling concert tickets to people,” Barnes said. “I can do that. I’ve done it before.”

Under clear skies and gusty winds, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, a former job counselor himself, gave some advice to 35 young Latinos filling out applications.

“There’s no way to give everybody here a job in this economy,” Alarcon said. The brass ring, he told them, will go to those with the tenacity to brave the disappointments of the region’s tight job market and those who have the right attitude.

Afterward, four young men from the San Fernando Gardens public housing project approached Alarcon, asking him if he had any work in his office. “My family worked in your campaign,” one youth said. While he had no jobs to offer, Alarcon advised them to seek work with the city.

In fact, the DWP booth was one of the most popular at the four-hour fair, with crowds of job seekers jostling each other for a chance to become a part-time customer-service representative at the giant utility.

“We’ve had floods of people coming to our table,” said DWP affirmative-action analyst Anita Ortega. “It makes you feel very grateful that you have a job.”

Among those mid-career professionals looking for work Friday was Bob Campbell, 41, who quit a job two months ago as a technical analyst in Ohio to move to Los Angeles with his wife. After sending out 80 resumes, he is getting nervous about his prospects.

“The response hasn’t been very good,” said Campbell, who was dressed in a designer suit, polished shoes and a silk tie. He had applied for data-processing and technical services jobs at the Bank of America and Coast Federal Bank.

“I was really surprised to see so many people out here,” he said, surveying the tented employer booths. “I’m just hoping,” he sighed, walking off to fill out yet another application.