I had a layoff in the last 2 years as an aircraft engineer and I know how it feels. Many colleagues with 20+ years in the business also hit the street. It's been a VERY rough stretch for engineers. In addition a lot of our jobs were already moving away before the recession. I actually just went back to flying for some time after the layoff, not a great job but you might want to try flying again. People are getting jobs in both areas but they are very hit and miss, not a lot of strength anywhere. I am planning another job swap in the next few months and it seems like all the companies are on lean times.