Highly Qualified Engineers Having Trouble Finding Work

William Ketel is no stranger when it comes to the pink slip.The 62-year-old out-of-work engineer from Michigan has been laid off 10 times that hecan remember, twice by Chrysler.

 "My presentunemployed situation, the end of my contract with Methode Electronics Div.,came about when the research project I was supporting was canceled," Ketelsays. "The layoff was part of a 10-person staff reduction, allegedly to reducecosts. That explanation smells a bit off, since three weeks earlier, the CEOhad called a corporate-wide meeting to tell everybody that Methode did not haveany money problems and that we were doing OK."

That was in November. Since then, Ketel says he has had one"serious" job interview with a competitor company of one of his previousemployers. "I sensed it would be a short interview when the first question was‘how old are you?'" he says. "That was the one question that I was not preparedfor, and so I answered truthfully. The interview lasted about 15 minutes. Inever got a call back."

(In this case, honesty is not always the best policy.According to the human resources section of About.com, it is illegal to ask aprospective employee questions about their age, race/ethnicity, religion,disability and marital status, among others.)

Ketel says he has learned to take his out-of-work status instride, but this time is different because he is competing against youngerengineers for fewer positions. In fact, a recent IEEE study on unemployment andage, citedby sister publication EDN, stateseach additional year of ages adds about 3.5 weeks to the duration  of unemployment.

Ketel, who has been "diligently looking for a really goodjob" since the layoff, says he's not having a lot of success. "Engineers areeasy to get rid of whenever things get a little tight," he says.

In the meantime, Ketel, who has a BSEE from LawrenceInstitute of Technology, and his wife, who works in high school food service,are living off their savings and the little money Ketel earns doing freelancework. One job includes writing for Design News. He is also currentlyquoting a project for a major auto company, but declined to reveal which one.

He says he believes his reputation will help him find a newjob. "I do have a bit of a reputation and my name is on an awful lot ofdrawings," says Ketel, whose resume lists an impressive set of skills andincludes jobs from as far back as 1993. Before working for Methode, Ketel was acustomer service engineer with Delphi Diesel Aftermarket, Hartridge Group.Prior to that, he served as chief electrical engineer at Global TestEngineering Services and J.E. Myles Inc.'s Control Power Reliance LLC.

Kenneth Ingold, a 53-year-old chemical engineer, has beenliving off his savings since being laid off from a major tobacco company "withoutexplanation" in 2004. The company was patenting his work when he was let go. "Itried to get unemployment after my savings ran low," he says. "They reduced mybenefits because I waited to file until I needed the money."

Ingold, who holds a BSChe from North Carolina State University, says hesearches the Internet every day, but has had no luck finding employment. Hetried to start a company, but the high gas prices stalled that project. "Headhunters will not answer me," he says. "I have had zero response toapplications."

From 1978 to 1980, Ingold worked as a quality controlengineer for General Tire in Charlotte, NC, but most of his experience comes from his time atLorillard Research in Greensboro, NC, where he worked from 1980 to2004. There, he, among other things, developed personal computer systems,including a vision system, calorimeter, warehouse fumigation monitoring withwireless networking and plant-wide DDC controls for primary processing. He alsogained experience with sensors, humidity and gas monitoring, and air flow controls.

Ketel, who is eligible for early retirement, but is just notinterested, says he has widened his scope of potential employment areas overthe last few months, even looking at positions in plant maintenance and theinfrastructure maintenance departments of local hospitals.

Most of his early employment experience was as an electricalproject engineer designing controls and instrumentation for industrial testmachines. To increase his value to employers, Ketel also educated himself inmechanical design, hydraulics, pneumatics and kinematics. "I also studiedchemistry a bit, as it relates to corrosion and materials compatibility," hesays. "I also worked with various shop people and learned to operate the milland lathe."

Over the years, Ketel schooled himself in the art oftechnical writing and completed Allen Bradley PLC programming courses. He alsotook courses in robotic programming. He is proficient in AutoCAD, MSWord, Exceland PLC program development.

"What I have done is pursue a few customers that I have donecontract consulting for in the past," he says. "I have also signed up withLinkedIn and I am not really certain what it is supposed to do for me. I havemade contact with a few old friends, which is nice, but it has not been helpfuljob-wise."

For their part, some recruiters believe that socialnetworking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook is one of the best thingsjob-seekers can do (see sidebar).

Ketel says also has received e-mails from a man in Texas and there ispossibly a job there if Ketel wants it, but he is not interested in ripping uproots. His only son is a teacher in Minnesota.

"I have cut way back on discretionary spending and I haven'tbought any toys. We've only been out to eat once since I've been laid off,"Ketel says. "Unlike many others, I saw this coming quite a while back and so Iwas never living at the edge of my income. I also avoided having much I theline of outstanding debt."

Ketel, who says he has always been a saver, had planned toretire at age 66 or 67, but those plans are now on hold. "If it gets too tight,I will retire and collect Social Security, but that's certainly not the plan,"he says. "I'm fairly optimistic that I will find something as soon as theeconomy turns a little. It's no longer the catastrophic end-of-the-worldfeeling when you are suddenly out of a job. You learn to cope with it."