Kansas Secretary of Labor Delia Garcia has released a web page with resources available to workers affected by the layoffs announced by Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita.
Garcia and deputy secretary Brett Flachsbarth will be in Wichita on Thursday to meet with stakeholders and coordinate the state’s response efforts, which will be based at the Workforce Alliance center in Wichita.
Wichita mayor Brandon Whipple, Sedgwick County commission chairman Pete Meitzner and representatives of public and private agencies met at the Workforce Alliance Center on Wednesday to begin a task force that will coordinate services and resources for workers and their families. There are 14 organizations involved in the task force.
Mayor Whipple says he has been talking with state and federal officials as well as local agencies, and he said the community is coming together to help the people affected by the layoffs. He said there will also be a plan to create diverse economic opportunities to be prepared for economic downturns in the future, with more opportunities for skilled people to find jobs.
Keith Lawing with the Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas says the group is working closely with Spirit to determine how to serve the affected workers over the next few weeks, and there will be a robust plan that will include job opportunities for those workers. He says there are a number of businesses in south central Kansas that are looking for workers, and there will be some targeted job fairs in the coming weeks.
