Westinghouse Plan Aids Laid-Off Workers in Md.
When Mike Buczkowski walked into work at Westinghouse Electronic Systems Group last Friday, he was given just about the worst news an employee can hear: He was being laid off.</br></br>Buczkowski was one of 1,200 Maryland Westinghouse workers who lost their jobs because of the Pentagon's cancellation of the contract for the A-12 Navy attack bomber. The timing was particularly tough; the defense industry and the Baltimore-Washington area are in the throes of recession.</br></br>He was handed a fat packet by the supervisor who had just told him about his layoff. Inside, Buczkowski found information on an extensive array of services: severance pay, continuing health coverage, unemployment benefits and a variety of job-counseling and placement programs. The first seminar, for all laid-off employees, is tomorrow.</br></br>"I don't hold any grudges," said Buczkowski, a drafting photographer who has a number of friends in the area who have lost jobs with other companies. "I haven't known anybody who extended this much service to people being laid off."</br></br>As the economy sinks further and further into recession, a number of companies laying off workers are turning to outplacement programs, which provide counseling and job-search services.