State Employment Office in Ventura to Close

The state Employment Development Department’s Ventura office, opened just four years ago as a convenience to residents of western Ventura County, will be closed to the public next week.

However, the office on Market Street will continue to function as a call-in center, manager Annette Havens says. She said the closure, slated Dec. 30, was ordered by the department’s Sacramento office as an efficiency measure.

“With our computerized systems, there’s no reason for people to have to come in to” check on “their unemployment claims or ask about job openings,” she said. “Except for the first visit, that can all be done by phone.”

To initially file for unemployment insurance and job-seeking services, residents of the west county will have to travel to offices in Oxnard, Simi Valley or Santa Barbara, she said.

Business people wanting to list job openings won’t be affected by the closure because they normally do so by phone anyway, Havens added.

Does the improving economy have anything to do with the closure? Not at all, Havens said. Her office handled almost 2,000 jobless claims last month.