JANESVILLE, Wis. -- A day after General Motors officials announced plans to cut one shift of workers at its Janesville assembly plant, some employees on Tuesday were starting to look toward the future.

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The layoff, which officials said could affect about 750 workers, will be effective July 14. Officials said that workers will make sport utility vehicles during one shift instead of two. Officials said that the cuts are due to sagging sales, brought on by high gasoline prices and a housing industry downturn.

Workers at the Rock County Job Center said that assisting those laid off employees will be the largest task they have undertaken in years.

Hundreds of employees in Rock County could be out of work when GM finalizes layoffs. Workers at companies that support GM's operations, such as Lear Corporation and Logistic Services Incorporated, could also be out of work.

The Rock County Job Center said it is preparing to work with every employee looking for a new job by helping workers find suitable jobs, job training and even helping workers prepare a resume.

Officials at the Job Center said they feel there are enough jobs in the area to absorb those who will be out of work but that things will be different.

"Some are not hiring at the wages that some of the individuals are used to getting paid at. So, it's really, 'What are they willing to accept? What can they live off of? What is a suitable wage for them?' The other issue is, 'Are they willing to change?'" said Shannon Moe, manager at the Rock County Job Center.

As part of the governor's rapid response group that will be working with GM employees, the Job Center will visit workers at GM during shifts to inform workers of how they can take advantage of available services.

Those visits have not been scheduled yet, but should be in the coming weeks, WISC-TV reported.

Because of the volume of employees that will be looking for work, the Job Center said it will be holding many group sessions. Job Center workers said they expect numbers to pick up quickly once layoffs become official.

As the production line slows and jobs are eliminated at the GM plant in Janesville, the effects are being felt beyond the walls of the assembly plant.

Mike Kalson didn't work for General Motors but he lost his job when the GM assembly line reduced production earlier this month. Kalson worked for Lear Corporation, building seats for the sport utility vehicles coming out of Janesville.

He said he saw the same signs before being laid off as he did when he worked for Beloit Corporation.

"I tried warning some of the people I worked with. The guys, other people who worked at Lear and were from Beloit Corporation, too, they did the same thing. (I said), 'Look, this is what's coming,' and no one wanted to believe us," Kalson said.

Kalson is now working with the Rock County Job Center to find a new career.

"I was a machinist for 25 years, worked at Lear as a seat tech. Now, I'm thinking about going into driving semis," Kalson said.

The job center said it is planning to work with every GM employee looking for work who is affected by the layoffs.

"We certainly understand that they're frustrated and they feel like they don't even know where to start. If nothing else, we try to give them a basis of, 'This is where you start, and where do you want to go,'" Moe said.

Kalson said he planned ahead by paying off bills. He said he learned his lesson the first time around.

"I saw a lot of my friends from Beloit Corp -- they lost everything. They just quit, and they're just now getting back on their feet because they let everything go, and you can't do that. There's always tomorrow. There's another day," Kalson said.

Experts said the job loses could have a drag on the entire economy of south-central Wisconsin.

"So, unless Janesville is repurposed, things do not necessarily bode well unless again there's a big shift in the way consumers view SUVs," said Deborah Mitchell of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business.

WISC-TV auto expert Matt Joseph said that it's a troubling sign that the Janesville plant is going down to one shift because it will be very hard for the plant to be profitable.

"The other thing that's not good is that Janesville is an old plant, and it's hard to imagine a new product going into that plant. But it's always possible and that's what the union should be talking about right now, and I'm sure they are: 'Get us a new product that you can sell. We can build, you sell it,'" Joseph said.

Joseph said it's very sad that these are permanent layoffs for what he called one of the finest workforces in the country. He said if the dollar goes up and the price of gas drops, big sport utility vehicles might start selling again, but he said he's not holding his breath.