Blessing in Disguise

Layoffs give some a fresh start

Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA — On the first day of his Florida vacation last July, John Zeiger got a call from work telling him he’d been laid off from his systems-analyst job.

“Guess I’ll be a male model now,” the fit, 42-year-old Telford, Pa., man announced, capitulating to his wife’s longtime exhortations to make money with his smile.

And just like that, a victim of the recession began to reinvent himself.

Zeiger, who has an engineering degree from Pennsylvania State University and 20 years of business experience, also possesses blue eyes and thick, wavy hair.

His wife, Barbara Elk Zeiger, 39, herself a model and actress, had long encouraged Zeiger to make a living with his looks.

So, when the ax swung, Zeiger had two thoughts:

“Things happen for a reason,” and, “Where do I go for my head shots?”

Like countless others, Zeiger has been compelled by a broken economy to search out a second act, or encore career, as some are calling it.

And though economists are saying the recession is over, 10 percent unemployment remains like wreckage after a hurricane. As a result, people who dreamed of making it in one career must dream again.

Some fortunate ones such as Zeiger have the reserve cash or use their severances and 401(k) plans, to underwrite those “I-always-wanted-to-be-a ...” fantasies. Others must use luck, pluck and government largesse to re-educate themselves in job-training programs or community colleges to snag currently in-demand jobs.

In the end, the goal is a career makeover — a new way through, born of job loss during the worst of times since the Depression.

These days, Zeiger actually feels lucky.

“I will look back on this and be grateful that my former employer set me free,” said Zeiger, who worked four years for Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Horsham.

“Modeling will give me more time with my kids,” he said. The couple, married a year, have a blended family of five children, age 7 to 14.

As much as it fosters anxiety, a layoff can provide much-needed renewal, said Daniel Russell of Atlanta, an organizational psychologist with Aon Corp., human-resource consultants.

“The positive side is, ‘I have a completely blank slate,’” Russell said. “‘I can do something fulfilling.’”

Within a month of the Florida reawakening, Zeiger had signed with a modeling agency. With his wife’s help, a casting agent sized Zeiger up and said he comes across as an all-American-dad type, a doctor or a CEO, good for print ads and commercials.

Zeiger already has appeared in a Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial and will soon be in a commercial for FullBar diet bars.

A LEAP OF FAITH

All spring, layoff rumors had been flying around the headquarters of AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals L.P. in Wilmington.

The night before the announcements were due, Jingmin Guo couldn’t sleep. On the one hand, her job as a statistical programmer was excellent, paying enough for her to support her mother and her 9-year-old son and to own two houses.

But, deep inside, after more than seven years, she wanted something different.

“I’m 49 now. I can start over,” she said, thinking about how she built a life in America over 19 years. When she came from China, she couldn’t speak the language, couldn’t find her way.

On the eve of the announcements, Guo found a Bible passage that promised she’d be able to walk through fire and not be burned, or through water and not get wet. “I read it five times,” she said. “All of a sudden, I felt calm. No matter what, God is with me.”

The next morning, she was told to report to human resources at 11 a.m.

“All of a sudden, I feel release,” she said.

Guo was laid off in May, and she started to think about what’s next. What first came to mind was elder care.

After doing research and consulting a franchise broker, she bought a ComForcare Senior Services franchise, opening an office near her Exton home. Her business aims to arrange for aides to go into people’s homes.

Guo is part of a growing trend, born of recession. The number of people interested in buying franchise businesses has tripled since 2007, according to Steven Rosen, chairman and chief executive officer of FranNet L.L.C., a Kentucky company that connects people with franchise opportunities.

Guo’s sister in China lent her $50,000 that Guo will combine with credit from home equity. She has yet to sign her first client.

“Deep down inside, I was scared to do this,” she said. “But you just have to start and do it.”