A local Merced County office could close if it can't consolidate with its counterpart, said officials.</p><p>The Employment Development Department and Merced County Workforce Investment, or Worknet, will begin negotiations next week to combine offices in the Worknet building on Seventh Street.</p><p>"We're having to do what we need to," said Maria Mendoza, deputy district chief of Merced County's EDD.</p><p>The EDD office has had two retirements and, given state cutbacks, cannot get approval to fill those positions, Mendoza said. That leaves two employees.</p><p>Mendoza said when one employee goes on lunch, a single employee is left to staff the office.</p><p>"That's neither safe nor really feasible," Mendoza said.</p><p>If the EDD office were to close, Mendoza said, unemployment benefits would still be accessible online or by phone. The two employees would be transferred to another office within 50 miles, she said.</p><p>Training through the Trade Adjustment Act, Mendoza said, would be available in Merced and Veterans service could potentially be offered part time in the Worknet office.</p><p>Brian Cutler, acting director of Merced County Workforce Investment, said the negotiations are in the "early stages."</p><p>"I don't want to overcommit, but I'm optimistic that we can come to an agreement," he said.</p><p>Worknet, which receives funding through the Workforce Investment Act, serves from 7,000 to 9,000 people between the Merced and Los Banos sites, Cutler said. Officials will be assessing the needs and space requirements of the two staffs, he said.</p><p>"I think we have the space," Cutler said.</p><p>The latest findings by U.S. News & World Report have Merced County as the worst place in the country for finding a job. The magazine cited high unemployment and the housing crisis.</p><p>Los Banos has an unemployment rate of more than 19 percent, and almost 17 percent of the population earns less than the amount established as the poverty line.</p><p>Enterprise reporter Thaddeus Miller can be reached at (209) 388-6562.