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Clunkers jobs end abruptly

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By MICHAEL SASSO

msasso@tampatrib.com

Published: September 16, 2009

TAMPA - Cash for Clunkers wasn't just a blessing for car dealers. Behind the scenes, 1,600 people landed jobs in Riverview handling the program's rebates.

Now, though, the Cash for Clunkers paperwork is winding down and the jobs are ending after just 15 days. Everyone realized the jobs were temporary, but some workers are asking why they weren't told they would end so quickly.

As the program wrapped up last month, government contractors, including Vangent Inc., carried out much of the back-office processing.

Vangent, which is based in Arlington, Va., already operated a call center in Riverview that handles customer service calls for Medicare. After securing a contract from the Department of Transportation, it recruited 4,000 people in the South in late August and earlier this month to handle Cash for Clunkers vouchers, said Eileen Rivera, a vice president for Vangent.

About 1,600 of those workers worked out of its Riverview offices, she said. It's unclear how long those workers expected to be on the job.

Rivera said workers were told their jobs would last four weeks at the maximum. Eventually, work went quicker than expected and the temporary employees are being released after about two weeks, she said.

Some workers apparently expected the jobs to last much longer.

To find workers, Vangent hired several temporary staffing agencies across the country, including Vaco Staffing. In late August and early this month, Vaco recruited 275 of the 1,600 people and workers were paid $14.73 per hour, said Vaco Chief Financial Officer Todd Sweat.

Vaco's understanding was the employees would work for four to eight weeks, Sweat said. The staffing company issued help-wanted ads for the project, billing it as a one- to two-month job.

When the work suddenly stopped Monday after about two weeks, Vaco let its 275 workers go, Sweat said.

"We're sorry that there was some confusion, but it was temporary in nature," he said.

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at (813) 259-7865.

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