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Debbie Brunner of Riverside was among the hundreds of people looking for employment Sept. 25 at a fall job fair at the Montgomery County Job Center on Edwin C. Moses Boulevard in Dayton.Click to enlarge

Redrick Works of Dayton was among the hundreds of people looking for employment Sept. 25 at a fall job fair at the Montgomery County Job Center on Edwin C. Moses Boulevard in Dayton.Click to enlarge

DAYTON — Roger Bardsley never imagined that he'd be out of work at age 51 and trolling tables at a job fair.

After all, he's a college graduate, a chemist with 30 years of work experience. But he lost his job in a downsizing at Alkermes Inc. in Wilmington in May and hasn't been able to find work since.

So there he was, wearing a suit and carrying his resume at Montgomery County's Job Fair on Sept. 25.

"Nobody wants to pay me what I'm worth," said Bardsley, who was earning $64,000 annually at his old job.

He's divorced and pays $175 in child support for his two kids from his weekly $365 unemployment compensation check. Adjusting to the lower income has meant cutting back on everything and "basically chewing up retirement."

At this point he's now considering getting his license to be a medical lab technician.

"Either that or I will have to sell the house and move out of the area," said Bardsley, adding that he doesn't want to move away from his young children.

Debbie Brunner

Brunner, 53, is working but she's worried she'll be downsized out of her job at Dayton Medical Lab. She's already had that happen once, losing a medical lab job she held for 17 years and had planned to retire from one day.

Brunner of Riverside said mergers and corporate acquisitions are behind downsizings at her old job and now the new one, which she's held since 2004. She took a pay cut to $11 an hour at the new job and that makes it hard to make ends meet.

"I cut every penny. If it's not on sale, I don't buy it. I go to the thrift store," said Brunner. "It's bad because I've cut out medication."

Redrick Works

Works, 41, of Dayton said he has been unemployed for a year since he lost his job at Mancor Ohio in Dayton as a result of the automotive industry slowdown.

"The economy's so screwed up," said Works, who was looking for work at the Montgomery County Job Fair.

The father of two children, Works said he does odd jobs, sells scrap iron, and helps people with renovations.

"Anything to pay the bills," he said. "Anything I can get that's legit."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7455 or

lhulsey@DaytonDailyNews.com.