Karen,

I am sorry to hear about your layoff. Unfortunately, there is a lot of that,
as I personally know of  5 designers in the same situation. I have their
resumes in front of me, and I am trying to find enough work to hire them.

I think what when the EDD is saying they won't pay to retrain you as a
Circuit Board Designer, it's because you already have that skill, and you
are trying to learn another package. Is that right? Mentor has a Displaced
Worker program you may be able to use. Go to the Mentor website for more
info. It's free if you qualify.

There are definitely less design positions now than there were even one year
ago. But I don't think that they're being lost to overseas competition.
There is just less development work going on, and many companies have
(wrongly) decided that they don't need in-house designers. If our economy
ever truly turns around, these jobs will be coming back.

David Ricketts

Pertek Engineering
Voice: 949-475-4485
Fax:   949-475-4493

-----Original Message-----
From: DesignerCouncil [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Karen
Anne Cardwell
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 12:39 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [DC] Job opportunities for PCB Layout Designers


I was layed off in September. I live in California.

Because the outlook for finding a job has not been promising,
I have returned to school and applied for retraining benefits
through the EDD.

However, I have been turned down, becasue according to the EDD,
"There is an adequate labor market for your existing skills of
Circuit Board Designer".

I am planning to appeal the decision.

What I need to know is:

1 - Do most designers know of atleast one or more designers
    that are currently out of work?

2 - Of those that are out of work, have any of them lost their
    jobs to design departments outside of the United States?

3 - Do you believe that there are currently less design
    positions now than one year ago?
    two years ago?
    three years ago?

Thanks for your help,

Karen Anne Cardwell CID
[log in to unmask]

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