Study Points to Lack of Welfare-Work Options

Popular wisdom is that welfare has never been a socially or politically popular subject in Orange County. And a new survey on corporate work-to-welfare programs by Associated Press does little to dispel that notion.

AP interviewed representatives of the nation’s 100 largest companies and asked whether they had or were planning to install programs for hiring welfare recipients. The Clinton administration has been urging private corporations to step up to the plate and provide jobs that can help wean people from public assistance.

But the only Orange County companies on the list--Santa Ana-based computer products distributor Ingram Micro Inc. and Irvine-based engineering and construction services provider Fluor Corp.--said they have no programs and no plans to develop any.

The two companies are not in the minority, though; 60% of the companies on the list are in the “no plans” column.

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John O’Dell covers major Orange County corporations and manufacturing for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5831 and at john.odell@latimes.com.