You may live in a region that is experiencing a high rate of job loss without having replacements for all those jobs.  Or you may be working in a sector of the economy that has been hard hit by the loss of well-paying jobs, such as the automobile or manufacturing sectors.  Such jobs provided access to opportunities; pay for young workers to start families; health and retirement benefits.   If you get laid off, you may not be able to find another job like the one you have—or you may struggle to find any job at all if major employers downsize or close and a lot of people are thrown out of work at the same time.  Now what do you do? 

There are no easy answers or simple solutions to these job losses. Some people are working differently than in the past.  For example, some regional economies are changing from manufacturing to service.  People lost jobs in manufacturing and found lower paying ones in the services sector. Others are now working for themselves or for relatives. Some would like to work full time but can find only part time work. And many workers have to pay for more out of their paychecks than before, such as for higher health insurance deductibles and co-pays.

Even as the types of available work and how work is organized have changed—locally, regionally or globally - the workforce has changed too.  It is more ethnically diverse with a greater number of women working even as income and pay inequality have risen.  Just as life expectancy has increased, so have the hopes of many that they will be able to work longer over their lifetimes—either by preference or economic necessity. 

Experts say that businesses demand higher skills and more education from workers now. In 1973, three-fourths of the jobs were held by those with a high school education or less; by 2000, those with a high school education or less held just 40% of the jobs.  Technology has created new occupations but also reduced or eliminated others; changing, increasing and decreasing certain skills you need.   The availability of digital information technology changes the technical and analytical demands of work; organizational restructuring and the increasing service economy require teamwork skills.  The number of jobs you are likely to hold in the course of your working life time has risen as people move between different jobs and occupations, which require different sets of skills.

Experts encourage adults to upgrade their skills while working as well as when under or unemployed.  There are a number of resources and links on this site to help you access educational and skill development resources and address transitions in your work life.

Here are some core concepts to help you:

Take charge of managing your own work life.    We are responsible for our own jobs and careers much more than in the past and we are unlikely to work for only one employer over our lifetimes.   As work changes, so do the way benefits work and what is required to plan for retirement.    Even if you work for someone rather than yourself, experts suggest you think like an “entreployee,” a combination of mind and skill sets that entrepreneurs and employees have.  You need to take initiative and responsibility to take care of - and make the most of - your work life, job or career.

Keep building your skills.  Keep skills required for jobs in your field up-to-date by taking classes at community colleges, online or at night or on weekends.   Some skill building programs and job assistance centers offer child care support as well. 

Define “skills” broadly. 

• Are there skills that you could gain that might help you to find work in other occupations that interest you?  Experts say that thinking about skills “related” to ones that you have now that could provide opportunities in related or extended occupations to what you have now can be a good way to make yourself more competitive and able to take advantage of changing work.   
• What kinds of skills might make you more competitive for “move-able” jobs or jobs and careers that are consistently in demand either across different locations (such as financial or nursing skills) or regardless of whether the economy is booming or in recession?
• Think about what kinds of “teams” you’d like to be a part of.  Almost no one ever gets or keeps a job solely on his/her own and teamwork skills are more necessary than in the past.  Think about what kinds of teams your skills or passion could contribute to.  

See what help might be available through state partnership or governments, including financial support for skill building or retraining in economic sectors most likely to employ you.  For example, in some states hard hit by structural job losses, state governments are offering programs that provide support for your efforts to build skills or retrain in high demand occupations; emerging industries or entrepreneurial areas.

Learn more about what you can do if you Unexpectedly Lose Your Job through our UnwantedChange.org website.