The Job Doctor's Prescription for Michigan's Layoff Wave: Don't Start Over — Transfer

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — Nov. 15, 2026 — Michigan's layoff notices are landing all at once. Trinity Health is separating 557 information technology workers in Livonia through Nov. 29, according to its state WARN filing, with the work shifting to an outside technology vendor. Automotive supplier Dakkota Integrated Systems is closing its Detroit plant and cutting 397 jobs after losing its Stellantis contracts. General Motors has cut roughly 500 to 600 IT roles, including at its Warren tech center, CNBC reported. It is a frightening headline for the workers holding those notices — and, says one Michigan workforce expert, an incomplete diagnosis.

"Here is the part the headline leaves out: most of that work still exists," said CJ Eason, President of Workforce Development at Hired in Michigan. Eason is known to job seekers as "The Job Doctor" for her no-nonsense, solutions-based approach to job problems. "The service desk still has to be staffed. The applications still have to run. The plant's customers still need parts. The job changed employers — the worker's skills did not expire. You are not starting from zero. You are starting from experience."

Eason's diagnosis for displaced workers: the biggest mistake after a layoff is panic — retraining for an unfamiliar field or firing off hundreds of generic applications before doing the transfer work. Her prescription is three steps for the first 30 days. "One — write down the work, not the title: the systems you ran, the problems you solved, the numbers you moved. Two — follow the work: aim that list at the vendor, the competitors and the neighboring industries hiring your exact experience this month. Three — get in front of people. A real conversation lets your experience speak before an algorithm files it. A portal application competes with a thousand uploads. A conversation competes with nobody."

The pattern is a national one, Eason noted, and Michigan is its clearest case study: employers across the country are cutting in one division while hiring the same skills in another. "Workers everywhere are being told a whole industry closed on them. It usually didn't — one employer's org chart changed. The worker who understands that starts the search a month ahead of the worker who believes the headline."

Displaced Michigan workers can put step three into practice this week: Hired in Michigan hosts Michigan's largest job fair event on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel Southfield, where job seekers meet hiring employers face-to-face. The event is free for job seekers; details are at jobfairgiant.com. "Bring the one-page list of your work," Eason said. "Not just your title — your proof. Employers are not looking for people who had jobs. They are looking for people who can do the work, and right now Michigan has hundreds of them holding layoff notices."

Eason is available for interviews on the Michigan layoff wave, displaced-worker transitions, and what employers are actually hiring for this quarter.

About Hired in Michigan: Hired in Michigan is a 501(c)(3) Community Empowerment organization specializing in helping military and military-connected families, in partnership with Spouses Works, the Department of War, and Blue Star Families. It operates jobfairgiant.com, Michigan's largest job fair event, and MichiganHired.com, where job seekers find verified, real job opportunities.

Media contact:
CJ Eason
President of Workforce Development, Hired in Michigan
jobfairgiant.com · MichiganHired.com
eason@hiredinmichigan.org · 248-237-3600