KILGORE, Texas — Unemployment numbers rose across the country when the pandemic first hit, and as many states including Texas experience another large spike, Workforce Solutions of East Texas is ready to help people in need of job assistance.
Mary Ann Rojas, the regional executive director, says the organization realized they needed to serve other areas as needs increased from COVID-19.
"When you're living out in a remote rural area, there's not a whole lot to access in terms of job opportunities," she said. "We recognized that we needed to be in areas where our customers are."
Two new access locations will be opened this week in Kilgore and Jefferson to expand the organization's outreach. Both locations are in partnerships with colleges.
The access location in Jefferson opened Monday, Nov. 16, at the Texas Tech Satellite Campus. A staff member will be there Wednesday for appointments.
The Kilgore location is at the Kilgore College campus in the Support Center Lab. Workforce Solutions team members will be at that location every Wednesday to handle appointments. It opens Wednesday, Nov. 18 and there will be an open house that day from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Rojas is excited about the opportunities these locations bring for graduating students about to enter the job market.
"A number of students are going to be graduating and looking for work," Rojas explained. "So this is an opportunity for those students through their career services office to access important services that we offer."
These are the 5th and 6th access locations to open since December of 2019. However, if there's not a Workforce Solutions office or access location in your area, there's still a way to receive hands-on help.
"We have three mobile units that we deploy throughout the region as well," Rojas said. "We want to be sure we're going to be where the people are."
Workforce Solutions of East Texas is operating at full capacity at this time, but office visits are only available at all locations with an appointment.
To schedule a meeting, click here.