Montgomery County is launching a new effort next month to help displaced federal workers find jobs.
The move comes at the end of a fiscal year, in a very tight job market.
Deputy Secretary of Labor for Maryland Jacob Perkins-Cohen said Montgomery County has been home to the highest number of federal workers in the state.
Before this year’s layoffs, Perkins-Cohen said, “More than 74,000 federal civilian workers lived in Montgomery County and 48,500 federal civilian jobs were based in Montgomery County,” with the largest of those being at National Institutes of Health and the FDA.
But since the firings began at the start of the new year under President Donald Trump’s administration’s effort to cut down the size of the government, Maryland has experienced the largest federal workforce decline in the nation, Perkins-Cohen said.
That’s why the county is opening the first brick-and-mortar location where feds can come for occupational guidance.
The new office of the Mobilize Montgomery Federal Workforce Career Center will be located in the WorkSource Montgomery American Jobs Center in Wheaton, said Laura Moreno-Davis, communications director for WorkSource Montgomery.
Moreno-Davis told WTOP that the former federal workers that will be served at the new center are “highly educated, highly experienced,” with advanced degrees and unique backgrounds.
Moreno-Davis was blunt about the current challenges in the job market.
“We can help encourage a lot of these folks with these very specialized, niche (skills) to consider entrepreneurship,” Moreno-Davis said, adding she knows it’s not the answer for everyone.
She also said WorkSource Montgomery is working to connect with local businesses to see where former feds could fit in their businesses.
Perkins-Cohen also urged those looking for work to remain open.
“Be ready to pivot. If your dream is to stick in public service, it’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “If there’s other opportunities, look for what might be your passion.”
The new center was originally slated to open this fall with $700,000 of county money. Moreno-Davis said it’s expected to open to the public by early October.
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