Job crunch: With unemployment rising, reinvention is a necessity in today

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There was a banker, a grant a computer programmer, a humamn resources specialist. “Now go back a few years and thinik about what you wanted to be as a thesocial worker, Liz said. The replies were far more adventurous, yet generic: veterinarian, architect, nurse. “Yout attachment to your job attaches a lot to yourpersonalo worth,” Maniscalco said. Most of the people in the room had recentlg been detached from theirjobs few, if any, by choice.
The message from both the stafc and jobless clients at ValleyWorks is that the thousands ofworkerw laid-off due to the deeply troubled economy have a chanc e to craft new identities, to starty over — whether they wanted to or not. Economistss and other experts are pronouncing what many of the unemployed are justnow learning: Many of the jobs aren’t comingb back. With that in job-seekers are desperately trying to adapt and explore new career paths while at the same time readjusting their lifestyles to reflect harsh economic The sudden displacement of workers is especiallgy acute in theMerrimack Valley, where many had manufacturing a sector that continues to shrinkm in Massachusetts.
The unemployment rate in Lawrenceis 16.5 more than double the state’s rate. And nearbyg cities, including Methuen and Haverhill, have rates in the doubls digits. Many face reinvention after long Robert Dube, 60, was a licensed mental healtuh counselor and worked for 27 years in a facility for teenages boys until his position was eliminatedx this past December due to budget Dube, of Methuen, is doing some course teaching on the side at and has looked at a varietyh of possible jobs such as a being a park ranget or a tour guide in Lowell.
“What I need to do rightt now is kind of revieaw what I have done and whoI am,” Dube While he’d like to stay in his field, or perhaps work more intensel y as a teacher, he conceded that at some poinf preferences become just that, preferences. Some are planninfg on starting theirown businesses. Tamar a LaPosta, 35, is taking courses in businessz at Northern Essex Community College with the hope of eventuallyh opening a breakfast dinerin Stoneham. For 11 yearws she worked in the sales officreof Wakefield-based LLC, which makes plastic flower But both LaPosta, and her were laid off by the compangy this past June. I was a little bit sad because I lovedcmy job.
I was a little panicked because I knew the markett was starting to go down and people everywherd were losingtheir jobs,” she The loss of her job provided LaPostas with what she called a “bootg in the butt” to startg a restaurant, which she had considerede a “pipe dream” before. It may stillk be. LaPosta said her familyg will be losing their housein Lawrence. She and her husbands recently filed forbankruptcy protection. They are lookinyg for an apartment to move into withtheir 5-year-olrd son. “We haven’t been able to keep she said. Unemployment insurance is “a drastic reductiomn in our salaries.
” The loss of a job is normallua shock, even if the workert sees it coming, said Cindy Key, who coordinatess workshops and education programs at which provides workforce training programs to the area’ s unemployed. “Most people spend more time planningg their vacation than they do planningf what they will do next intheir career.” several out-of-work professionals in the Merrimack Valley region said they are tryingf to track down potential careers in what are perceived to be safere industries, such as clean James Coleman, 60, is trying to find a way to parlag his experience as an accountantr into a “green” job.
“I’m extremely interestefd in renewable energy andalternatives energy,” the Lawrence resident said. Coleman, who lost his job in the comptrollef office of Northern Essex Community Collegein June, has been searchingt through online job sites, looking at clean technology presentations and networkingb with people in the field. Therew are immediate anxieties todeal with, however. Coleman didn’t open his statement right away because he had an premonitiohn of what wouldbe inside. When he finally did open it he discoverex his portfolio had declined by40 percent. His neighbor, moved to Lawrence when she tookher job. Then she got bought a house and starteda family.
Not long ago the town seemecd to be showing some signs of she said. “You drive arouned now and it’s really like a ghost There’s just a whole lot of