PERRY, Iowa — It's been two weeks since over 1,000 Iowans were told they’d soon be laid off from their jobs at the Tyson Foods pork packing plant in Perry.
Now, the Iowa Workforce Development division is stepping up in a unique way to help those impacted by the mass layoffs.
The state division recently unveiled its new IowaWORKS Mobile Workforce Center, a decked-out truck with ten computer stations and career planners on-site. It's the state's first job center on wheels, designed to navigate laid-off workers through the often stressful process of getting a new job.
"We're very excited to be able to bring the Iowa Workforce Center to Perry for Tyson," said IowaWorks career planner Joseph Nobile.
Within the first hour, more than two dozen Tyson workers had visited the unit. Nobile told Local 5 that many of the employees expressed interest in furthering their education to expand career opportunities.
"The biggest concern I've been hearing so far is individuals are just scared. It's a scary thing, having to find work again," he said.
To combat some of those fears, career planners helped workers identify marketable and transferrable skills that are desirable for employers.
IowaWORKS also highlighted Iowa’s booming labor market, their job seeker services site currently has over 160 job openings in Perry. Across the state, thousands of manufacturing jobs are available, and at least 1,700 of those positions are food-related.
“We want to help these workers understand how those skills that they've gained from working here at Tyson are going to transition into other jobs elsewhere. There are plenty of opportunities available," Nobile said.
Iowa Workforce Development told Local 5 they hope to open a temporary job center in Perry and hold career fairs in the coming weeks to further their efforts.