Since opening the Federal Worker Career Center in Wheaton in mid-October to support displaced government workers and contractors, more than 200 Montgomery County residents have stopped in for help.
The most popular service the center is offering is individual meetings with a career coach, according to Anthony Featherstone, executive director of WorkSource Montgomery.
The center is part of the County Council’s pledge to help displaced federal workers and give them an advantage in the county hiring process.
“We are talking about people who have worked with the federal government for decades,” said Council President Kate Stewart during her weekly meeting with the press Tuesday. Therefore, they have very specific résumés that don’t necessarily fit the non-governmental workforce, she said.
“It is a tight labor market. It is very competitive for anyone looking for a job right now,” Featherstone said, noting the center employees are “focusing on how to make yourself more competitive in a competitive market.”
Sixty percent of the center’s workforce were federal employees for at least some of their career, according to Featherstone. “They are taking this personally,” he said.
During Tuesday’s county council session, a bill was introduced for a supplemental appropriation of $180,000 as part of the effort to hire displaced federal workers. A public hearing is scheduled for Nov. 4 at 1:30 p.m.
