Three out of every five employees in the US who were laid off from jobs last year have landed new jobs, most in the new fields, says a survey.
According to a survey from job portal CareerBuilder.Com ,"59% of workers who were laid off from full-time jobs in the last year reported they found new positions, up from 55% last year,"
The number of people taking jobs in different fields rose from 48% last year to 60% in the 2011, it noted.
"While the job market remains highly competitive, opportunities are opening up across all industries and job levels.
"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," CareerBuilder President (North America) Brent Rasmussen said.
Of the employees who were laid off last year and found new jobs, 90% found full-time positions while 10% found part-time work.
Besides, fewer laid off employees reported taking pay cuts with their new positions, with 43% of laid off employees indicating they took a job with less pay, down from 54% in last year's survey.
In contrast, 23% of respondents said they found a job paying more with than their previous position, up from 18% last year.
The survey revealed that "mature" employees, defined as 55 years of age or older, were less likely to have found work. Only 36% were re-employed. That compared to 78% of job seekers in the 25-34 age group.
One-third of the employees surveyed who found jobs relocated to a different city. Among those who had not found jobs yet, about one in five said they were considering starting their own businesses.
The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder among 920 US employees laid off in past 12 months ending March this year.
