Few turn out at Wesley Chapel hiring event as jobless figures remain dreary

WESLEY CHAPEL — The same day state officials released their July jobless rates and painted a dreary picture of unemployment in Pasco County, hiring managers for Liberty National Life Insurance Company were left scratching their heads.

Only 10 people showed up at the Hampton Inn on Friday morning to learn about more than 50 openings with Liberty National. The company says it is hiring for commission-based sales agents and managers.

Three potential applicants left immediately after Liberty National's presentation, which featured tales of employees making $5,000 a week.

The small crowd was surprising news to Ken Russ, interim president of the Pasco Hernando Workforce Board, which helps job seekers in the two counties with Tampa Bay's highest unemployment rates.

On Friday, the state announced that Pasco's rate remained steady through July at 12.2 percent. Hernando County's edged up from 13.1 percent in June to 13.2 percent.

Russ said the workforce board's centers saw more than 14,000 job seekers last month, many of whom probably would have been interested in Liberty National's openings.

"I think there is a population out there who are basically looking for whatever they can get right now," he said.

That's the mindset of Tracy Eastman, 42, who came from her New Tampa home to the informational interview Friday.

Eastman always imagined staying in the corporate world, but since losing her accounting job last month, she has considered teaching and now insurance sales as possibilities.

"I have to work," said the married mother of four. "I'm pretty flexible."

She stuck around after the meeting to arrange a one-on-one interview with Liberty National next week.

The insurance agency's officials wondered if job seekers missed their marketing efforts or had trouble finding the Hampton Inn. The hotel is located in a developing spot near State Road 56 and Interstate 75. Getting there requires following a series of small signs through a construction area.

Whatever the reason, job seeker Janet Sanders, 21, was happy for the small crowd.

"That's less people to compete with," she said, scanning the empty chairs in the hotel's meeting room.

Helen Anne Travis can be reached at htravis@sptimes.com or (813) 435-7312.