By Candice Ludlow
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-906855.mp3
Memphis, TN – The unemployment rate for Tennessee continues to hover above 10 percent. Candice Ludlow met a manufacturing engineer looking for work last month at a job fair. This week, she called him to see how his search is going.
When I met Daniel Wiltberger, he told me he had just set his job search to the East Coast because he gave himself six weeks to find a job near Memphis. He used to commute from Olive Branch to ThyssenKrupp Elevator in Middleton, Tennessee. Now, he's been out of work for 10 weeks - and Wiltberger is the sole breadwinner.
On Monday, his wife gave birth to their third child, a healthy 9 pound boy. And they own their home.
This isn't the first time that Wiltberger has been laid off. He says, "the last time was when I was in the Buffalo, New York area, and automotive started doing its decline. I was laid off there. And it was about four months until I found something. And what I attribute that to was, at that point we wanted to move, we wanted leave the Buffalo area. So I figured it took a little longer because I had to find a company that was willing to relocate you. This time it's the opposite. I want to stay close but I'm finding that there is not as many opportunities locally."
Not surprising in this down economy. Manufacturing jobs have taken a huge hit. Still, Wiltberger is optimistic.
"My resume seems to be working. I get lots of phone calls, you know, I've been interviewing right along. You know, nothing's run cold. I'm still looking for the right opportunity, right match to get that job," Wiltberger explained.
Wiltberger is starting to think about expanding his search to include production and supervisor roles while continuing his search for manufacturing and industrial engineering jobs.