A new study by Rutgers finds that those who have found a job after being unemployed often have reduced wages and benefits. The study found that if workers switched careers or fields, around 70% took a pay cut. Only one third of those surveyed had been able to find work, and while those respondents said they were happy to have work, they admitted that it was hard to deal with the economic changes. Of the respondents who found work, 41% switched into a new career or field to do so. One of the authors of the study said that many of the people who found work in new fields are not as happy because they are not working where they want to be.
See "Career Shift Often Means Drop in Living Standards", Catherine Rampell, The New York Times, January 3, 2011