ClearRock

BOSTON - The latest employment statistics show that creation of new jobs has slowed considerably from last year and 2004. Through May 2006, the number of new jobs created has declined 10.5 percent from last year - and a whopping 30 percent from 2004. Besides being more difficult to find a job, this employment environment necessitates that people try to change industries, especially if they've been affected by recent layoffs, according to ClearRock, an executive coaching and outplacement firm headquartered in Boston.

Only 730,000 new jobs have been created during the first five months of 2006, down 10.5 percent from the 815,000 that were created during the same period least year - and down 30 percent from the 1.04 million new jobs created from January through May 2004. Only 75,000 new jobs were created in May, while economists had been forecasting more than double that amount.

"That is a strong indication that the number of new jobs being created is slowing, making it more difficult for people who have been laid-off from a job to find a comparable one when competing with all of the new employees being added to the labor force," said Greg Gostanian, managing partner for ClearRock.

Between 30% and 40% of laid-off employees are successfully transferring their skills from one industry to another, particularly if they've been displaced by industries that have been heavily cutting back lately, including manufacturing, banking, pharmaceutical, and military/defense-contracting, according to ClearRock.

They have been transferring the skills they've built up in these industries to those that are in the forefront of hiring, such as health care, information technology and computer-related, services and professional services industries.

"With hiring slowing, more job-seekers need to be prepared to transfer the skills they have built up during their careers in industries that are now contracting to those industries that are hiring," said Annie Stevens, managing partner for ClearRock.

"It is much easier to transfer the experience you have acquired from one industry to another than it is to try to get a job in a completely different field of work," added Stevens. "You will have more success in trying to switch from being an accountant for a manufacturer to being an accountant for a hospital, for example, than you will have in trying to get a new job in a functional area in which you have no experience."

One of the most important elements of an industry-switching job strategy is to search in all industries that are most closely related to the one in which you have experience. "Out-of-work banking industry employees should also search for jobs with mortgage companies, credit unions, and financial planners, in addition to looking for employment with other banks. But after this, they should look for jobs within their functional areas (accounting, for example) with unrelated industries, such as health care and information technology," said Gostanian.

It's also important to learn the language of the industries in which you're applying for jobs. "Just as you have your own buzzwords in your industry, you need to learn the terms and trends of the industry in which you are applying. It's not only important to 'walk the talk,' but you need to be able to 'talk the talk' as well," said Stevens.