While Ottawa's unemployment numbers are better than most of the country, the region has not escaped the sobering reality of economic downturn.
About 19,000 tech workers lost their jobs here in 2008, according to Statistics Canada.
For a group of laid-off Bell Canada workers with long tenure at the company, the future is a mix of uncertainty and optimism as they hunt for new work.
Bell announced a cut of 2,500 workers in late-July: about 15 per cent of its non-union, middle-management workforce.
"It gets more depressing as each day goes by," says Dave Bathurst. "There will be several days with nothing, and then you get two or three calls.
"Our education has a lot to do with it. A lot of us came out of high school and into these jobs, and so now you go to job fairs and if you give them your resum�, they ask if you have a degree. And if you say no they just dump the resum� and don't even bother looking."
And the slumping economy isn't helping. When Bathurst follows up after job interviews, he finds that many positions have been put on hold.
Christine McGee cried for hours after receiving the pink slip. And than she stopped, and created "Life After Bell," a website for fellow layoff victims to share ideas, job prospects, success stories, and move on with life.
"If you are depressed you can't keep going forward, you have to put this behind you," says McGee, who has a few months left at Bell.
"To find unemployment for 25 or 30 years is virtually unheard of today. Our kids will never know that. It's just the way of the world today.
"So we have to transition, and the best way to do that is to communicate with each other and deal with our problems as a group."
Animosity towards Bell remains strong for many
Many of McGee's colleagues agree that Bell targeted older workers to improve the bottom line for the impending sale of parent company BCE, which has merged with CTV.
"We were part of the sale," says Mike Hayes.
"We've been sitting and waiting to see if we would get our $42.75 for our shares, but of course that deal fell through in December and that cost a lot of us a lot of money.
"We could have retired at age 55 with our years and service but we can't. We will still get our pension but at age 60, and if we take it at age 55 it's greatly reduced."
These Bell veterans also accused the company of heavy-handed behaviour with the job cuts, saying they've been replaced with contracted workers and overseas outsourcing. Some are even taking Bell to court, and any past warm and fuzzy feelings for their former employer have evaporated.
Wendy Lewis was nearing retirement when the market began to fall and the layoffs occurred. Now she's discovering that the job search can be difficult as an older worker.
"One of the reasons I think Bell is in so much trouble is because of what they have done, the way they have treated people," she says.
"They have lost some big customers. You can drive yourself crazy if you keep thinking about what has been done or what could be done."
Dec. 5 was Bill McAdam's last day with Bell after more than 30 years, and his father and grandfather worked there before him.
"You can't change anything now - you just have to get on with it, he told CTV Ottawa.
"I find you have to redo your resum�, and instead of saying 'I am proud to have over 30 years experience with Bell,' I just say 'over 20 years working with a hi-tech firm'."
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Paul Brent
