Underutilized employees seek more work

ALLENDALE, Mich. (WOOD) - Official unemployment in Michigan remained steady at 8.9% in January, but the number that best quantifies Michigan's underemployment is 16.6%.

That number, called "under labor utilization", includes the unemployed, the discouraged, and part-time workers who want full-time jobs.

George Evans is among those looking for full-time work. He works part-time as a line cook at Turk's Inn in Nunica, and he enjoys it.

The feeling is mutual.

"I don't want to see him leave," said Francine Brown, the restaurant's owner. "I employ 30 people here, and all 30 of them are important to his business. And we're a small family here."

But Evans said he needs to be putting in more hours.

24 Hour News 8 first interviewed Evans at a three-day job search event called Ready NOW!. The program put on by Michigan Works! guarantees three interview chances, once you sit through two days of workshops.

"(I have) a lot of motivation," Evans said. "A lot of people who are depending on me, so that's why I'm here."

Evans was there at first for a friend, but stayed for his family.

"I have a 6-year-old daughter, a 5-year-old son. I want my wife to go back to school, so we just get to a place where we're comfortable," he explained.

He was in the Navy, has a history of manufacturing and is determined to find full-time work with benefits.

"You're not done until you say you're done," he continued. "No one can defeat you unless you defeat yourself."

Evans had a second and a third interview this week at a manufacturer in Holland. 24 Hour News 8 has not heard if he got the job.