Checking in on the 'New Jobless'

In the six months since Fortune wrote about three employees of the Delphi auto-parts plant in Moraine, Ohio, all of them have spent their time busily retraining themselves. "I'm hanging in there," says Michelle Scales, who faced foreclosure but has managed to keep her house, thanks to the government's mortgage relief plan. She is finishing her associate's degree and hopes for a job in plumbing. "I'm hell-bent on doing what I need to do."

Annette Ison will officially retire from Delphi (as a union employee, she's been collecting 70% of her salary) in August 2010, so that she can retain health benefits. "But I'm not sure what my benefits are going to be," she says. "Right now, they're taking away our dental and eye [coverage]." She hopes to start a business running an affordable reception hall for weddings and other events.

Barbara Philpot, who says she misses Delphi "every day I live," is slowly getting acclimated to school. Philpot has to complete one more class to get her social work certificate and then hopes to start a paralegal program. "I think it's a better choice," she says, "but there's no jobs here. I'm taking it one day at a time."

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