Take Up a New Career at 50? In Syracuse, Life After Layoffs - New York Times

Take Up a New Career at 50? In Syracuse, Life After Layoffs - New York TimesIf this were 10-plus years ago, a majority of these people would have simply hit the interstate and headed south and gotten a job there," Mr. Davis said. "The interesting thing is some 500 of these workers have returned to school, and that shows they think there is opportunity here."

Roger A. Evans, an economist with the state Labor Department, was bearish about this city's prospects. "This area is doing very well outside the manufacturing sector," he said, noting that the number of nonmanufacturing jobs in the area had risen by 8,700 to 287,400 in the last three years, while factory jobs fell by 5,200 to 33,000.

Some workers have scoured the Internet to find industries that are hiring. A Web search convinced Chris Fiacchi, 34, that he should study respiratory therapy.

"A lot of us chose medical fields," he said. "With all the aging baby boomers, there's going to be a large increase in medical staffing. You don't have to worry about layoffs there."

Thirty years ago, Barbara Ann Goss left Syracuse University after her freshman year and went to work at Carrier. Now she has returned to college to study health information technology.