Local groups committed to helping Oscar Mayer employees find new jobs

There is hope in the form of job training for hundreds of soon-to-be-former Oscar Mayer workers. A number of local groups said they are committed to keeping those workers working somewhere else in Madison.

“I’ve been working there 22 years,” said Jase Anudson, an Oscar Mayer plant worker.

The decades of service Anudson dedicated to Oscar Mayer came crashing down Wednesday afternoon.

“They told us today at 2 p.m. and that they’ll shut down the whole plant,” he said.
Anudson is mourning the loss of his job on top of an even tougher loss.
“I lost my wife two months ago and now they’re breaking this to me,” Anudson said.

But all hope isn’t lost. As soon as the news broke, the South Central Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development contacted Madison College to help.

“We are working together to assess the employment demand in our district and try and get these workers back in family-supporting jobs,” said Terry Webb, provost at Madison College.

Webb said they’re committed to training displaced Oscar Mayer workers from the ground up.

“We know that there are a lot of workers at Oscar Mayer right now who are second English language folks so we can help enhance English speaking,” Webb said.

Madison College also plans to prepare workers for the full-time computer and manufacturing jobs that are in high demand in our area.

“We know where there are openings and we can do our best to make sure our dislocated workers can fill those openings that are in need now,” Webb said.

Madison College officials said they’ll help fund those workers’ education through  grant money set aside by the Department of Workforce Development.