Most people in Evansville drive by a building on East Walnut Street without giving it much thought. There were no eye-catching signs or advertising campaigns blaring from the interstate’s billboards. However, on any given weekday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., someone is sitting across from a case manager at a desk, attempting to figure out what to do following a layoff, a career stall, or just realizing that their ten-year job is no longer a good fit.
That’s WorkOne Evansville, which is a part of the Southwest Indiana Workforce Board’s larger network. It’s simple to associate these offices with the outdated notion of a “unemployment office,” complete with fluorescent lights and lengthy wait times. However, the reality now appears somewhat different, at least based on what is presented to the public. Case management, workshops, job search support, and resume construction. There’s a feeling that the rebranding isn’t merely aesthetic, and it reads more like a career services center than a government waiting area.
This office covers a sizable area of Southwest Indiana. The main Evansville hub is located at 4600 Washington Avenue, and locations span Dubois, Knox, Perry, Gibson, and Pike counties from Jasper to Vincennes to Tell City. The instructions are straightforward for residents of Gibson County in particular: any WorkOne location in Indiana will do. This kind of adaptability is more important than it may seem. There may not always be a center close by for job seekers in rural areas, so being informed that you can walk into the nearest office eliminates another reason to skip work.
Impact is more difficult to quantify. It’s still unclear whether WorkOne’s more recent initiatives, such as the 4T Academy developed with Toyota Indiana and Purdue or the Jobs for America’s Graduates initiative for at-risk high school students, are making a difference that will be evident in wage data five years later. Government workforce programs have a long history of being evaluated more by enrollment numbers than by actual outcomes. These kinds of programs typically look good in a brochure. It will take time to determine whether they result in steady, livable-wage employment.
However, there is something noteworthy about the way WorkOne has positioned itself around particular demographics as opposed to a general job seeker. Employers, educators, youth, veterans, and partner organizations all have their own entry points. Although it’s a minor design decision, it conveys an understanding that, even when they enter the same building, a 52-year-old laid off from a manufacturing plant and a 19-year-old just out of high school require quite different types of assistance.
Who enters WorkOne’s doors is shaped by Evansville’s decades-long reliance on manufacturing and logistics. Berry Global, a number of healthcare companies, and Toyota’s Princeton plant all make extensive use of this local labor pool. WorkOne becomes one of the first places to go when one of those companies slows down hiring or a smaller manufacturer closes a line, not because it ensures employment but because it’s the closest thing to a starting point.
It’s also important to note that the office now uses a hybrid model—in-person, by appointment, and virtually—a change that most likely outlasted the pandemic conditions that necessitated it. Since the state portal is now the only way to file for unemployment benefits, WorkOne’s in-person role has shifted from processing paperwork to coaching and skill development. Depending on who you ask, that may or may not be an improvement. Some job seekers are looking for someone on the other side of the table. Some simply want to get paid as quickly as possible.
From the outside, it’s striking how unglamorous the entire process is, and perhaps that’s the point. A workforce board is not celebrated with a parade. However, unglamorous might be just what’s needed for someone sitting in that Walnut Street office trying to figure out how to rewrite a resume after twenty years at the same plant.
