But the loss of jobs has not caused a ripple in the Fort Wayne area so far. In some cases, retirements took care of expected layoffs. In other cases, workers facing layoff found other jobs, in some cases before factories or lines shut down, Holderness said. But the Fort Wayne area has been unusual, said Sharon Langlotz, manager for the dislocated worker programs in Indiana. No one knows what kind of jobs many of these workers are finding.
New regulations require the state to collect that information.
For now, the state staff only has anecdotes which suggest workers are paid much lower starting wages, but begin to close the gap quickly, Langlotz said. Nor is there a good profile of the worker in northeast Indiana who has been laid off. Nationally, more women have been affected, Langlotz said. But that's not necessarily the case in the Fort Wayne area. The impact of maquiladoras is not only a matter of jobs.