Successes
- Larry Hammons, Customer Service Representative for Worker's Safety and Compensation Division Department of Employment
- Amber Williams, Sales Administrator for ISC Corporation
- Bob Howell, Delivery Driver for Brake Supply
Larry Hammons, Customer Service Representative for Worker's Safety and Compensation Division Department of Employment
Larry Hammons knows plenty of people retire from the military not knowing what to do. He never planned on being one of them.
When he was 39, Hammons learned his father had terminal cancer and he retired from the Air Force to care for his parents. Two weeks later his mother died unexpectedly and soon his father died too. Hammons' inheritance could sustain him and his wife, but for the first time, he had nothing to do. Hammons began suffering strange illnesses.
"I didn't have a whole lot of support besides my wife," he said.
He believes a friend's advice to find work saved his life.
He started with what he knew. He had helped run the medical office at F.E. Warren Air Force Base. He took advantage of GI Bill benefits and went to Laramie County Community College to study occupational therapy. But during an internship he learned his ailing joints could not take the physicality of the job. He considered becoming a civilian paramedic, but worried again about his joints.
"You don't see older paramedics," he said. "I couldn't compete with a 20-year-old."
Stumped, Hammons turned to the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs and took an aptitude test that recommended business administration. As soon as he got his results he laughed, he said.
"The running joke I heard years ago was no matter what you want to do, you need a business degree," he said. "Even doctors do paperwork."
A stipend and veteran's benefits allowed Hammons to get a bachelor's degree. He is now a customer service representative for the Wyoming Department of Employment, Worker's Safety and Compensation Division. Hammons said he enjoys the fast pace and being able to help people. It's the most satisfying job of his life.
"It's a high stress job that relies on your ability to make quick decisions based on limited information," he said. "Eight months after retirement, I was on blood pressure medication. Six months into (working for the state) I was off the medication. Obviously I thrive on high stress."
In addition to services offered by the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Wyoming's Department of Workforce Services has outreach workers who serve Veterans and even their family members. Their travel schedule can be found on the Workforce Services Web site.
"They can help you through the entire job-seeking process," said Employment Services Division Assistant Administrator Erin Moore. "They can help with Veterans benefits, career counseling, resume writing, interviewing skills and even training."
State services are also available for disabled Veterans.
"For someone who meets the requirements, we can do virtually anything we need to do" to help with job placement, said Jim McIntosh, administrator for vocational rehabilitation with Wyoming Workforce Services.
McIntosh said he works with people with disabilities, Veterans and civilians alike. Services available for people who qualify vary from skills training to a four-year education, he said.
For more information about Wyoming Workforce Services, call (877) 967-5996 (WORK-WYO.)
Amber Williams, Sales Administrator for ISC Corporation
Thirty-year-old Amber Williams unwittingly benefited from an employment trend targeted at keeping older people in the workforce. She works for a company that emphasizes a flexible attitude toward employees meant to keep them happy and the business functioning smoothly.
At Casper-based computer networking company ISC Corp, the company has found that treating employees like family is good business. In the past decade, the company has evolved a collegial workplace philosophy that allows employees to put personal needs first, said operations manager Jeff Ehrenhart, a co-founder of the company. This attitude is something Ehrenhart said he has seen benefit employees in all walks of life, and wasn't designed for any one group.
But introducing more flexibility into the workplace is part of a larger trend the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services is encouraging to help address a workforce shortage. Jeremiah Rieman, a policy analyst for the department, said the hope is that older workers will stay in the workforce longer and bridge the generation gap with younger workers.
"That's not something only older workers benefit from," he said. "Even myself, I want a flexible work schedule."
Williams joined ISC when it formed in 1998 and currently works as a sales administrator. ISC sets up computer networks for schools, government agencies and private companies. Williams works with sales people and engineers to be sure clients are getting what they need. She said she enjoyed her work, but when she became pregnant for the first time, she realized her company was different. Her managers gave her the opportunity to work from home after recovering from the birth, and let her plan her return to work.
"They said whatever makes it easier for you is fine with us," Williams said.
Once she returned to work, she was told she could bring her daughter to work when she needed to. Even after she found daycare for her daughter, Ava, Williams said, she still brings her to work sometimes. When she had her son several months ago, she was offered the same opportunity. She recently brought her son, Eli, with her to work the day of a doctor's appointment.
"For me to run to daycare, pick him up, take him to the doctor, then take him back" is difficult, she said. "It's actually less disruptive to my work to have him there."
Ehrenhart said he takes advantage of his company's flexibility too, sometimes leaving work at odd hours to see a child's performance.
"We do the same for all our employees," Ehrenhart said. The company has about 65 employees with most of them in Casper and Denver and some in Salt Lake City or home offices. "We push our employees pretty hard and that's the trade off. When they ask for things like (time off for their family) they get it."
Williams said ISC's flexibility makes her a more loyal employee.
"When I talk to my friends or to people from my husband's company, they are just in awe" of ISC Corp's flexibility, she said. "It helps me realize ISC is out of the ordinary. They were not doing something they had to do for me, but something they chose to do."
Bob Howell, Delivery Driver for Brake Supply
Bob Howell is doing in practice what policy makers say makes good sense for Wyoming's workforce needs - working part-time in retirement.
Howell was taking odd jobs that appealed to him and doing some consulting for oil and gas operations when he saw an ad in the newspaper about eight years ago. The ad was for retirees seeking part-time work and Howell responded. Howell, now 74, was the first of what has grown into a team of six retirees working for Brake Supply in Casper, delivering parts for mining machines to area mines.
The job worked out well for Howell, allowing him to take weeks off at a time when he wants to. Brake Supply branch manager Tom Ackerman said it works well for the company, too.
"It works for the seniors because they want to be productive but they don't want to work full time," Howell said. "It works well for us because we can't keep the guys busy for 40 hours."
Brake Supply makes deliveries of new parts as they receive calls from mines, he said. That means the workload varies. By keeping several people on a roster for deliveries the company can respond to any call. It also allows workers like Howell to ask to be removed from the call list for an extended vacation.
"We're okay with that because we just go to the next guy on the list," Ackerman said.
Howell said, "I could be totally retired but this extra income makes a difference. They treat you well and you do feel like they think well of you."
Ackerman said until Brake Supply specifically advertised for retirees they didn't have much luck finding part-time employees. Younger people tended to either be less reliable or not want to work part-time, he said.
Jeremiah Rieman, a policy analyst for the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, said situations like Howell's are just what Wyoming needs.
"We have a worker shortage," he said. "What better way to address that then to find hidden workers (retirees) and encourage them to continue working, and encourage businesses to hire them."
That is an equation that Ackerman discovered by chance. He said it is working so well Brake Supply is planning to try a similar effort at its Elko, Nevada office.
Rieman said the state hopes that creating a welcoming work environment for workers will allow more people like Howell to work into retirement. That in turn will build a generational bridge while younger workers gain the experience to fill the ranks.
"These folks have a lot of knowledge base," Rieman said. "We have to keep them engaged so younger folks, folks such as myself, can learn from them."
"Seniors who would like to continue working can find help, including training services, at regional Workforce Centers," said Erin Moore, Assistant Administrator for the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services Employment Services Division. "Additional services are available for low-income seniors," she said.
"They can also do on-the-job training with seniors," Moore said.
For more information call (877) WORK-WYO.