Washington,DC / The WorkCenter

Comprehensive help
in the work environment
In a country enduring a crisis that is leaving thousands of people without jobs, there is an organization that helps the unemployed, according to a modus operandi that clashes with the laws of the market. “There is a need that goes beyond the need to have a job”

by Anna Leonardi

So far, 2009 doesn’t seem to bear good news for the American economy: the projections talk of 4 million new unemployed (a 50% increase from 2008), which will cause the unemployment rate to jump to over 9%. All in all, the current scenery doesn’t look anything like the image of the “land of opportunity” enjoyed by a few friends in Washington DC, who, in 2004, almost by chance, started the WorkCenter, a small yet very efficient initiative to help those less fortunate than themselves to find work opportunities.
Samuele Rosa, one of the founders of the Center (where he works pro- bono) and an economist at the International Monetary Fund, says, “The need that we encounter is immense. We are a very small reality, born with the intent of helping a few friends who had lost their jobs, but that, in the past couple of years, has handled some three hundred cases.” No field of work is immune to the crisis. Even those with more high-profile employment histories, such as managers and finance and computer science consultants, have knocked at the WorkCenter’s doors. Samuele explains: “Some of them received comprehensive help, ranging from writing a resume to learning interview techniques; from pinpointing their weak spots to learning to negotiate a contract. Others just needed help with specific problems, which could be resolved in a single meeting.” But there is a need that goes beyond the need to have a job: it is the need for a companionship, for a face of support in the struggle to find a job, able to break through one’s isolation. That’s what happened with Andrew, a construction worker (a sector that in the past year has suffered a 60% drop in employment) who, because of his police record, is unable to re-enter the work force. Samuele says, “He really wants to redeem himself, but circumstances isolate him; he is afraid of the future and he got to the point of asking himself whether a life like this has dignity. We don’t pretend to be able to solve his problems, but we accompany him daily, with the certainty that we are walking toward a benevolent destiny.” It is a new modus operandi, which clashes with the law of instant matching-currently regulating the work market-that causes a reluctance to invest in human resources. Samuele explains: “Today, companies hire only those who are already up to speed with the requirements. There is no room for growth, which results in an impoverishment of the whole of society. On the contrary, the wealth of the WorkCenter is time freely given so that those who entrust themselves to us can come to recognize their own value, which will become a resource for everybody. In this sense, to use the economic lingo, the WorkCenter really ‘generates wealth.’” And much more.