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6 <br /> STATUS OF ORANGE COUNTY Employment <br /> The overall average annual wage in Orange County (1987 statistics) was a low$18,063. More <br /> than 25 percent of jobs in Orange County pay wages that keep a family of three (the average sized <br /> family in the County)below the poverty line. These axe the "working poor" in the county. Also, <br /> sources of income have shifted since 1986. The number of persons working in low-paying service <br /> jobs has increased in the county, while jobs in the high- paying manufacturing sector have decrea - <br /> Forty-four percent of all county residents were involved in service employment in 1987. Low wage <br /> industries contribute considerably to the population of the working poor. <br /> STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE/IMPROVEME T <br /> • Establish an employment council <br /> —Need for job fairs <br /> -identify location of jobs <br /> -identify job requirements <br /> —Differentiate between "career" and "jobs" <br /> -provide counselling and/or referral to enable individuals to acquire skills <br /> • Need more comprehensive transportation system <br /> —Coordinate with existing human services system <br /> —Expand current services (e.g.,request McBroom bus system to explore how they might h-.Jp <br /> relieve some of the current needs) <br /> • More economic development <br /> —Need for forthcoming report from Economic Development Commission <br /> —Need to review and revise development restrictions which discourage industry from <br /> locating in the County <br /> • Encourage basic income to all <br /> —More competitive wages and improved working conditions <br /> -Critical need for TJNC-CH and Orange County, as primary employers, to reclassify obs <br /> and raise wage scales <br /> —Need for wages to be comparable to the cost of living in the County <br /> —Need for employers to put more resources into training/ education for a better work fore <br /> —Need for employers to offer incentives to continue/finish <br /> education <br /> —Utilize volunteer programs that increase productivity (e.g.,Habitat for Humanity and <br /> Literacy Council) <br /> • Promote farming in county <br /> —Provide workable regulations for land use and water quality <br /> —Promote and coordinate a county farmers market <br />