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March 13, 2011 in Business
Two years later, Spokane’s laid-off tech workers regroup
Paul Perovich, who was laid off from Agilent in 2009, is shown in front of a wall-size photo by photographer Kent Henderson that Perovich produced at his business. Perovich now operates a large-format printing business called Speedpro Imaging in Spokane Valley, where he makes displays, prints and signs.
(Full-size photo)(All photos)
Around the same time, Agilent Technologies company officers began planning a series of layoffs at its Liberty Lake operation. By the end of 2010 Agilent would let go about 200 highly paid engineers, technicians, programmers, managers and marketing specialists.
That double-barrel economic shock continues to reverberate across the region. Many of those laid off are still unemployed or taking college-level courses for retraining.
Spokane’s loss of those skilled, high-wage jobs has left a large economic crater the community is still dealing with, said Doug Tweedy, regional labor economist for Washington’s Employment Security Department. If there’s an upside, Tweedy said it’s the creation of a large pool of skilled workers that area companies could draw from.
A full two years since the layoffs began, those roughly 520 tech workers are adjusting to life after downsizing. A large number remained in the Spokane and North Idaho economy, taking jobs with long-established firms or with startups.
Since many were near or at retirement age, those with well-managed 401(k) plans either stopped working or moved away. A very small number of workers from Itronix and Agilent are still in the area, still working but doing their jobs from home.
Tim Plass, a research engineer working with the federal government who has tracked the paths taken by many of those who lost work, said the hardest hit was within the first six months after the layoffs began.
“It seems only 20 to 30 found work in the area in the first six months,” said Plass, who stays in touch with former colleagues at both firms. He was laid off from Agilent in 2007 after working there for more than 20 years as a wireless engineer. He went to work at Itronix and was laid off there in May 2009.
Plass was lucky. He got a good engineering job but had to commute from Spokane to Bingen, Wash., where he worked for defense contractor Insitu.
Plass kept hunting for a Spokane job. Last summer he was hired as a research engineer in the Spokane office of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Plass guesses that between 15 and 25 percent of those laid off from the two firms left the area, either for new jobs or to retire.
Both firms also offered workers the chance to move to another company location. It’s not clear how many did that.
Plass uses two LinkedIn social network groups to track where his former co-workers are now. He has found dozens of instances of people being hired across the region, ranging from jobs at large companies such as Schweitzer Engineering Labs in Pullman to small startups like Spokane Valley’s Flyback Energy.
“Surprisingly, I think over half of (those who stayed in the area) found new positions in the last year in the local area,” Plass said.
Many others are in school taking advantage of federal retraining money, he said. The full cost of his college tuition and books is covered through the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Act. That program provides retraining and unemployment money to workers whose jobs have been replaced overseas.
Of those staying in this area, many were tempted to leave, but chose to stay because of family obligations, home ownership or the daunting prospect of living in a higher-cost location.
Here are six vignettes of people who have redirected their careers after the two big layoffs:
Paul Perovich: owner, SpeedPro Imaging
After more than 25 years as a product and program manager, first with Hewlett Packard, then with Agilent after the Liberty Lake office was renamed in 2001, Perovich lost his job in 2009.
He considered relocating his family to Santa Rosa, Calif., to Agilent’s main office. But the higher cost of living and the disruption to his family seemed too huge.
Perovich, 49, interviewed with several area companies for technical or managerial positions but did not land an offer.
“I’ve wanted to run my own business for the past five years or so,” he said. He started researching options and came upon Speedpro Imaging, a nationwide large-format print and poster-design company.
The fast-growing company had no stores in the Spokane area. And it scored high on a variety of websites that rank franchise opportunities. Perovich and his wife invested more than $150,000 to get a franchise started. He opened his doors in a Spokane Valley location last fall.
He likes the change that comes with running his own business, even if he works 12-hour days.
“The main thing is getting people aware of us, that we’re here,” Perovich said.
Jim Vocature: MBA student
Vocature worked at Itronix for 10 years as a software applications manager. He was laid off in July 2009. Not being an engineer, he knew his job prospects would improve if he added a business degree on top of his tech experience.
He’s enrolled, along with some other former colleagues, in Gonzaga University’s master of business administration program. He’s using the TAA benefit, which covers tuition, books and other education costs.
He’s applied for a number of area jobs but hasn’t landed one yet.
Vocature is considering getting an additional tech certification to boost his career profile.
He used to make $83,600 at Itronix. “Now I’m looking for jobs for about $65,000,” he said.
“Another strike I’m facing is that I’m 62,” Vocature said. Like many others who were within 10 years or retirement age, he said Spokane seems to have limited job choices for gray-haired techies.
Jeff and Jan Owen: Different paths
The married couple both worked at Agilent for roughly 15 years. Jeff, who’s 42, was a senior product manager; Jan, 40, was a software developer. She was laid off in 2009 and he in fall 2010.
Both landed quickly in new jobs.
A few months after losing her job, Jan met with the principals at Spokane patent law firm Sadler Breen Morasch Colby. The company has already hired one engineer from Itronix who had recommended Owen.
In September 2009 Jan took a job there as a technical analyst; she intends to complete training to be a patent agent.
She doesn’t make quite what she earned before, but with bonuses and other incentives, the salary is close, she said.
“It’s refreshing to try something different,” she said.
Jeff Owen was offered the chance to move to Santa Rosa to stay with Agilent. Because the Owens have two young children, the move loomed too disruptive.
Out of luck or good networking, he learned that Liberty Lake company Purcell Systems was hiring. His marketing and engineering background got him the job last December as a product manager, helping Purcell design and build outdoor enclosures for network carriers like Verizon and Sprint.
“I really am glad I can work in a smaller company now,” Jeff said. “It’s more entrepreneurial; you get to see your impact on customers much faster.”
Jeanne Fightmaster: mom
Fightmaster, 38, started at Hewlett Packard almost 13 years ago in sales support and business development. She eventually had the chance to work part-time, which allowed her enough time to start a family.
She became a marketing specialist during her last several years at Agilent. In early 2009 she learned her job would end in several months. Her final day was in September 2009.
She and her husband, Ken Fightmaster, have three elementary school-age children.
Her husband was a regional sales rep for a Seattle company. At the same time she learned her job would end, her husband began worrying about his.
Jeanne looked around and saw no jobs available that paid anything close to what she earned at Agilent. She also concluded it was not the time to go back to school.
She decided to stay home while her husband chose to start his own business. He operates his own Allstate insurance agency in Spokane Valley.
Together, they have roughly 70 percent of the household income they had before. They live frugally, but Jeanne said they’ve always done that. “The money we saved (in the months leading up to her final days at Agilent) was how we were able to purchase the insurance business,” she said.
Marty Gulseth: Avista engineer
Gulseth is 64 and just landed a new job as an associate distribution engineer for Avista Utilities.
He worked several stints with Hewlett Packard/Agilent going back as far as 1992. He didn’t have an engineering background, instead working in sales and business development.
After his final job at Agilent ended in 2008, Gulseth looked at his choices. He decided to sharpen his technical background. He opted to use his TAA benefits to take Gonzaga’s transmission and distribution certification course.
The $12,500 course took him 12 months; he finished a few months ago and landed his current job at Avista quickly after.
“I told my wife that we might not find a decent job in this area. I was willing to move anywhere,” Gulseth said.
“All things considered, I’m very happy to have this job, that uses my education and experience. I read about a lot of others who haven’t been as fortunate,” he said.
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djschwartz on March 13 at 11:07 a.m.
The high tech job losses in Spokane are much greater than the numbers in this story would indicate. At its peak Agilent’s Spokane site employed over 1500 people. Layoffs and downsizing began there in 2000. And across the street, Telect was, I believe, over 1000 people. Layoffs alone do not tell the whole story. As the corporate desire to downsize became clear, many left voluntarily for other opportunities. I’m one of those. In the end, I left the Spokane area with my family, not because we were unhappy with living in Spokane; but, to go where the jobs were.
mebrodeur_spv on March 13 at 11:58 a.m.
I am a 28 year veteran of Hewlett Packard and Agilent Technologies whose position was eliminated in June of 2007. I was fortunate to very quickly find a comparable technology position within a 35 minute commute of my home in Spokane Valley. I’m not sure the local business community truly realizes the wealth of highly talented tech workers available as a result of the departure of Agilent and other tech companies in this area.
nitro71 on March 13 at 12:13 p.m.
I remember in 1999 the green, tree hugger, sierra clubbers I worked with touting technology jobs replacing manufacturing, mining and logging. And how those people should retrain out of those “non environmentaly” friendly industries. Now where are those new jobs they were bragging about? I never did buy their crap but unfortunately those new tech jobs all went overseas.
west on March 13 at 1:14 p.m.
Gotta move to the Pudget Sound area..that’s the high tech job area …been like that for many years for engineers. Bet if they did a study of Spokane HS grads and after a 4 year degree, you will find 80 percent live and work elsewhere..not in Spokane. Sad, but Spokane is isolated..no big high tech DOW firms who hire thousands like Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft and on and on….
greyhound2 on March 13 at 2:15 p.m.
Time to dump the World Trade Oraganization and bring back tariffs, tax corporations who offshore American jobs and deport all illegal aliens. Bring an end to the Wall Street terror campaign to obliterate the middle class, and begin an attempt to level the playing field. Wall Street has most of all the money, and working people have most of all the votes. Change the rules. When those in charge pass rule to enrich and benefit themselves, the rest of us have NO obligation to abide by any of them. None.
force_vector on March 13 at 3:11 p.m.
WTO and Wall Street “terror campaign”? Really? The issue here is that the economy tanked and companies had to downsize, or went under all together. However, by and large, to be employed in a high tech career field is to not live in Spokane, plain and simple. As has been mention, live in the Seattle if you want high tech. Nothing about the Spokane area screams “well paying tech jobs here!”. There are many, and an ever increasing number of reasons way that’s the case. The WTO didn’t create the massive dropout rate in the Spokane area. A Wall Street “terror campaign” didn’t create a downtown whose only life is found in panhandlers and drunks. Illegal immigrants didn’t allow transportation infrastructure to become, at worst unusable, and at best damaging to vehicles that utilize it. Corporate greed didn’t board windows along Sprague, nor did it lead to the urban blight that is now Spokane Valley. No, these things happened because Spokane has its own problems, and its own massive issues. Spokane is the way it is as a result of the population who lives here, and the leaders those same people elect. Nothing more.
oneanddone on March 13 at 5:08 p.m.
I too worked for HP, Agilent, then Itron. No one will ever convince me that corporate greed and gov’t complicity didn’t facilitate the demise of these businesses. Those I worked with were as well educated and as competent as anywhere else in the world. These businesses were successful but left Spokane because they could improve their bottom line by moving offshore. I don’t have a problem with a company like Agilent or HP manufacturing products overseas, but then don’t bring them back here to sell. We need laws to prevent that. It’s not this community that’s the issue, it’s a bought off gov’t and corporate greed.
greyhound2 on March 14 at 1:58 p.m.
force vector,
Spokane doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Aglient didn’t relocate from the Valley to Mead in Spokane County, they relocated to Malaysia and Scotland. The game is zero sum, which means I win and you lose, or I lose and you win. This isn’t an expanding pie where everbody gets a bigger slice. The rules on this end need to be changed. The WTO is a rigged game and there is no need to participate from here any further.
obewan on March 14 at 9:46 p.m.
The WTO did not come and shut down Agilent or Itronix. Both company’s upper management made those decisions based on their own internal information as to what was best for their business. Yes, a poor economy and the latest recession played a very big part, but only because these local branches were not in a position to pull their weight when times got tough.
In Agilent’s case, the progressive decisions to leave Spokane were driven by the consequences of poor management moves in the preceding years: millions of R&D funding were spent developing the wrong product at the wrong time, making it unviable in the market place, and by the time the design was changed, it was too late. You can be certain that if Agilent Spokane had developed excellent products that were making the coporation money, management would have kept it here, just like they kept Agilent in Everett. As for Itronix, its upper management did not understand what General Dynamics wanted of it when they bought it, and/or did not communicate those directives to the next level of management and product design. GD over-reacted by scraping out a good vehicle that just needed some tune ups and new tires, but that was their choice. If Itronix had been making the money that GD expected, you can be assured GD would have not disturbed the production of golden eggs. In both cases, local management let their Spokane workforce down and the employees suffered the consequences. No legislation against WTO or free trade or offshore manufacturing would have changed the situation for these companies. Legislating that products be made in the US will not help these companies sell products when their competitors outside the US are using low cost manufacturing in the Far East. Corporate greed is no explanation to kill off a good business. The solution is to develop better, innovative and lower cost products that will compete.
tplass on March 15 at 9:17 a.m.
That’s right, these events are not from the manipulation of the WTO or a Wall Street “terror campaign.” When the recession hit, the Spokane divisions of these companies did not have the products to make in rough times.
Take a look at this video from a news story about Insitu, the company I went to work for after beign laid off from Agilent and then Itronix. Insitu grew from about 25 employees in 2004 to over 725 by the time I left in June 2010 … and this was during a recession near Portland where unemployment was well over 10%. Insitu has the innovative products and has shown that a small company can make it just fine in a recession. Their corporate buyer (Boeing) really likes what they are doing and won’t dare to disturb Insitu’s success.
http://www.insitu.com/index.cfm?navid=299&cid=4740
toms on March 17 at 11:52 a.m.
Hey all
Just my two cents in case folks feel this article didn’t do justice to the full scope of the loss of Agilent (or Itronix).
Truth is it was meant as a two year snapshot, not a complete history.
All we did is say from that point, Feb 2009 and going forward 24 months, what happened?
Also some wondered about the “net impact” of gains at other firms…. following the big layoffs at A and GDI.
Yes, it’s not easily measured. but if you go out and track the numbers in the other companies, those other companies have either added workers or stayed stable.