Recession Fading for O.C. Jobless : Economy: Many of the Newly Hired Are Making Less : Personnel: ‘I declined the opportunity to relocate.’

In the past few weeks, Gayle Gomez has hired 10 new employees at QLP Laminates Inc., a growing Orange County electronic components maker.

And she says she will soon be hiring a few more. While the local economy is just beginning to struggle out of a four-year recession, Anaheim-based QLP--like many other Orange County businesses--is gearing up to serve clients in other parts of the country: companies that began growing with the upturn in the national economy last year.

Gomez herself is a beneficiary of QLP’s expansion; she was hired by the company in November, a month after joining the ranks of Orange County’s unemployed when she decided not to follow her previous employer when it moved to Washington.

“I declined the opportunity to relocate,” said Gomez, a Placentia resident whose husband is plant manager for a major electronic controls maker in Long Beach, “and we agreed that Oct. 15 would be my last day.”

As part of her separation package, Gomez took a course to develop job-seeking skills. That knowledge helped her negotiate improved benefits with her new employer.