As more and more residents who work for the federal government or a company that has contracts with the federal government receive layoff notices, Montgomery County is trying to stem the bleeding.
It created a separate landing page on its website filled with resources and suggested places to look for assistance.
WorkSource Montgomery, which has offices in Wheaton and at the UpCounty Regional Services Center, offers free walk-in help as well as multiple workshops geared to residents seeking new employment.
It also is offering free headshots for anyone attending its LinkedIn workshop.
When people lose their jobs, they aren’t spending money with area businesses and income tax payments are reduced, Elrich said, adding, “And this is just the beginning.”
He predicted the effects to Montgomery County could cause “seismic shock.”
According to Elrich, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda let 1,500 workers go.
Many federal departments are laying off probationary workers, but Elrich said that doesn’t mean the person losing the job is new in the field. They could have years of experience but just recently started working at a new department or division.
“Some are in critical research fields,” he said Wednesday during his weekly meeting with the press.
He pointed to four companies who together laid off 808 employees after losing federal contracts from USAID. The are DAI Global in Bethesda, ABT Global in Rockville, Creative Associates International in Chevy Chase and EnCompass in Silver Spring.
The Women’s Business Center in Rockville just lost a $300,000 contract, because the government is eliminating all contracts that are gender-based, Elrich said, noting, “So you can’t just do a woman’s program.”
