Louis Urso, the human resource director at Revlon for 20 years, visited the CareerSource Northeast Florida (CareerSource NEFL) Board of Directors meeting to commend the organization’s Rapid Response Team for their “phenomenal” work in assisting the remaining 120 Revlon employees as the company closes down operations in Jacksonville.
Urso, who also lost his job, singled out Roben Faircloth, CareerSource NEFL’s Industry Manager for Manufacturing/Aviation/Aerospace, along with Rapid Response Manager Gigi Culler, for their efforts in helping guide employees to find new employment.
“Roben and the rapid response team were phenomenal,” Urso said. “They did a lot of work with our transitioning employees. And thanks to their outreach, nearly 20 employers came out and met with our people.”
“We provided information packets and facilitated an on-site job fair at Revlon, which included participation from 18 employers at an on-site job fair,” Culler said. “Our role remains the same in each case: to provide whatever level of service and support the employer wants and needs to assist the affected employee.”
Urso shared that at the height of Revlon’s operation in Jacksonville, close to 1,000 people were employed working in three shifts six- to seven-days a week. But a combination of business decisions over the years took their toll on the company’s local operations.
Revlon shut down its local distribution center in 2024, and has since consolidating all its manufacturing in North Carolina.
“In addition to the employees, we had about 100 temporary workers who were impacted, too,” he said. “Of the employees, the majority are still looking for work, many of them mechanics, facilities maintenance and forklift drivers…they stayed on with the company through these years because of the company’s culture.”
With the closure, Revlon ends a 70-year history in the city.
For many transitioning employees with years at the company, looking for a new job represented a very new challenge.
“There’s one gentleman who had been with us 37 years who had no resume and doesn’t use a computer, with his wife handling that side of the house,” Urso said. “He was a great employee for us on our maintenance team and he says, “ I’m not going to prepare a resume. I don’t know what to do,’” Urso said. “So, we worked with him…had him fill out a questionnaire, kind of a template, and we helped him create one. He did attend the job fair and was extremely nervous. As you know, searching for employment has changed quite a lot in the last 37 years.”
Urso added that having worked at UPS for eight years as well, for a total of 28 years in Jacksonville, he’s turned to CareerSource Northeast Florida for his entire career here: from recruiting to training and development – long before working with Rapid Response as Revlon shut down its Jacksonville operations.
“I’m a really big advocate of CareerSource Northeast Florida,” he said. “I always share my experiences in the community about what the organization can do. It’s been a sharp tool in my toolbox as an HR professional, so I just wanted to say thank you to the board of directors and to the entire team for the help they’ve provided along the way.”