More employees willing to relocate, change industries
More laid-off workers in the United States are getting back to work this year, according to a new survey by CareerBuilder.
Fifty-nine per cent of the 900 employees surveyed who were laid off from full-time jobs in the last year reported they found new positions, up from 55 per cent last year. The amount of workers who took jobs in different fields from where they previously worked rose from 48 per cent last year to 60 per cent in the 2011 survey.
Of the workers who were laid off in the last year and found new jobs, 90 per cent found full-time positions while 10 per cent found part-time work.
"While the job market remains highly competitive, opportunities are opening up across all industries and job levels," said Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America. "Over the last few years, we've seen workers, out of necessity, cast a wider net and discover new career paths they may never have considered pre-recession. New talent is flowing in and out of industries as workers apply their skills sets to new occupations."
Employers are in a better financial position today than one year ago and are gradually increasing staff levels to meet growing market demands. Thirty-one per cent of laid-off workers reported they were hired back by their previous employer, found the survey.
Fewer laid-off workers reported pay cuts with their new positions. While 43 per cent of laid-off workers took a job with less pay, this is a significant improvement from 54 per cent in last year's survey. Twenty-three per cent found a job with more pay than their previous position, up from 18 per cent last year.
Men reported a higher incidence of finding employment, according to the survey. Sixty-three per cent of men who were laid off from full-time jobs in the last year found new positions, compared to 50 per cent of women, found the survey.
Mature workers continued to report more challenges in finding employment after a layoff than other age groups. Workers age 55 or older had the lowest incidence of finding new employment opportunities at 36 per cent. Workers age 25 to 34 had the highest incidence of landing new jobs at 78 per cent.
One-third of workers had to expand their job search geographically in order to secure an opportunity. Of those workers who were laid off in the last year and found new jobs, 33 per cent relocated to a new city or state. Of those who haven't found new jobs yet, 34 per cent reported they would consider relocating for a position.
