HALAWA — It's been almost three months since Joe Kauweloa worked.

Yet he still wakes up at 2:30 a.m. as if he's going to work as a gate greeter for Aloha Airlines.

Since the airline shut down on March 31, Kauweloa has applied for jobs at four different companies. He's come close, but has not been chosen. It's not the place he expected to be after 35 years as "Joe Aloha" for Aloha Airlines, where he worked as a customer service representative.

"I didn't get the jobs," said Kauweloa, 56. "Most of the jobs want a bachelor's degree, and they don't give credit for job skills. I was 'Joe Aloha' at Aloha Airlines — people knew me as that. Now, I'm plain Joe."

Kauweloa is not alone trying to find his place in a shrinking job market that leans toward youth. He's also one of the estimated 2,000 Aloha and ATA airlines employees looking for work in an uncertain economy.

Scott Morishige, Helping Hands Hawai'i program manager Community Clearinghouse, said having to look for work for the first time in decades can be daunting.

"Many former Aloha workers had been with the company for 20 years or more," Morishige said. "If you haven't had to go on an interview in over two decades, it can be hard. The job market now is a lot different than it was 20 years ago, and many jobs now require computer skills."

Whether someone is with a company for one year or decades, losing a job can be one of life's most stressful events, said Linda Foye, president of Workplace Solutions Inc., a Hawai'i employee assistance firm.

"The loss of a job is a significant loss," Foye said. "It brings with it the loss of continuity in our lives, the loss of financial and economic security, our co-workers, self-esteem and identity."

DECISIONS TO MAKE

Retire or find a new job? That's the question Dorothy Marsh — who worked as a flight attendant for Aloha Airlines for more than 40 years — asks herself daily.

At 60, Marsh says she's lucky because her husband is employed, her family's finances are fairly stable and she has health insurance. But her salary and travel benefits counted for something in the family financial picture.

"I have a daughter in college on the Mainland," Marsh said. "The hardest part of being laid off is that it wasn't a job for me. It was like going to work and being with my family."

People who worked at Aloha Airlines for 30-plus years call themselves the "legends." Many of them grew up with Aloha. They raised their families with Aloha. They traveled around the world because of Aloha.

When Marsh has gone out on a job interview, she said it's a conversation stopper when the employer sees that she was with one company for 41 years.

"They can put two and two together and realize that I don't have much work time left before retirement," Marsh said. "Any job I get won't have the same people or the same feeling as before.

"But it's not all gloom and doom. Some of us have gotten jobs."

GOING BEYOND PRIDE

Signe Godfrey, president of Olsten Hawai'i, which places people in temporary employment, said she feels for the Aloha workers seeking work in today's marketplace. She recently helped the city and other businesses host a job fair for the laid-off workers.

"This is the first time we in Hawai'i have faced something like this where people have to re-tool, re-educate and re-learn the job market," Godfrey said. "Many of the workers are capable of doing a lot for companies."

One of the hardest aspects of searching for a job in a tight economy is the realization that many of the available jobs won't pay as well as the old job, Godfrey said. Once a laid-off worker accepts the situation, then it will be easier to move ahead.

"There's an awful lot of pride involved," Godfrey said. "I suggest people make a one- or two-year plan and look at what you have to do to accomplish your goals. Don't let your pride get in the way."

Kauweloa said that the pay for most of the jobs he's sought is much lower than his salary at Aloha. At the moment, he's concerned about finding a new place to rent. Most companies insist that you list an employer and not just unemployment as a source of income.

"I think now I might have a hard time finding a new place without a job," Kauweloa said. "It's going to be interesting."