A layoff forces a decision that nobody in the exit meeting can make for you: take the first job that looks like the old one, or use the gap to train for something more durable.
Federal data says the second option deserves a serious look. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Displaced Workers Survey, released August 27, 2026, counted 3.3 million workers who lost jobs they had held for at least three years between January 2023 and December 2025. By January 2026, 66.1 percent of them were working again. But of those back in full-time wage and salary jobs, only about 49 percent were earning as much as or more than they did before, down from about 62 percent in the previous survey. Getting rehired and getting your income back turned out to be two different things.
The layoff numbers themselves are mixed. Employers announced 573,195 job cuts through September 2026, down 39 percent from the same period of 2025, according to the Challenger, Gray & Christmas report published October 1, 2026. Technology companies, though, announced 165,925 cuts, up 54 percent, and AI was cited in 120,136 announcements, about 21 percent of all cuts this year. There are fewer layoffs overall, but more of them are in roles that may not come back in the same form.
This guide covers what to retrain for, how the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) can pay for that training, and how to keep your unemployment benefits while you’re in class.
TL;DR: Key Takeaways
- A new job isn’t the same as a recovery. Only about 49% of displaced workers back in full-time jobs matched their old pay in the 2026 BLS survey, down from 62% two years earlier.
- WIOA can pay for training if you qualify as a dislocated worker and the program is on your state’s Eligible Training Provider List. Start at an American Job Center, not at a school’s admissions office.
- Federal law protects unemployment benefits during approved training. The approval comes from your state unemployment agency, so get it before your first class.
- Four careers worth a look: HVAC/R technician ($61,010 median), medical billing and coding ($51,140), electrician ($63,190) and pharmacy technician ($45,750), per BLS May 2025 data.
- File the FAFSA early. WIOA rules expect you to use other grant aid, such as Pell Grants, alongside or before training funds.
What a Layoff Does to Your Next Paycheck
Age makes a measurable difference. In the same BLS survey, 72.9 percent of displaced workers aged 25 to 54 were re-employed in January 2026, compared with 57.3 percent of those aged 55 to 64 and 38.6 percent of those 65 and older. If you’re in the older group, our guide to trade careers after 50 covers the physical and financial questions that come with a later-career switch.
The reason for the layoff matters too. Of the 3.3 million long-tenured workers BLS counted, 44.4 percent lost their job because their position or shift was abolished, 32.6 percent because their plant or company closed or moved, and 22.9 percent because there wasn’t enough work. When the position itself is gone, waiting for a callback to the same role is a weak plan. That is the situation WIOA’s dislocated worker program was built for.
If you’re going to retrain, the months right after a layoff, while unemployment benefits and any severance are still coming in, are when the rules in this guide work most in your favor.
Four Careers Worth Retraining For
These four pair steady projected demand with training that doesn’t require a four-year degree. Pay figures are BLS national medians for May 2025, and growth projections cover 2025 to 2035. A median is the midpoint for everyone in the occupation, including people with decades on the job, so expect to start below it.
Some school listings in this guide are sponsored. A sponsored listing does not mean a program is on your state’s Eligible Training Provider List or approved for WIOA funding. Confirm that with your American Job Center before you enroll.
HVAC/R Technician
- Median pay: $61,010 (May 2025)
- Typical entry: postsecondary certificate or associate degree; programs run from 6 months to 2 years
- Outlook: 11% growth from 2025 to 2035, about 40,600 openings a year
HVAC/R technicians install and repair heating, cooling and refrigeration systems. The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook projects growth much faster than average, and notes that the EPA requires nearly all HVAC technicians to be certified in refrigerant handling, an exam usually built into postsecondary programs.
Go in with clear eyes about the physical side. BLS says technicians “often work in awkward or cramped spaces” and that HVAC has “one of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses of all occupations.” It suits someone who wants to get out from behind a desk, not someone who needs to avoid physical work. You can compare training options on our HVAC program page.
Medical Billing and Coding
- Median pay: $51,140 (May 2025)
- Typical entry: postsecondary certificate
- Outlook: 8% growth from 2025 to 2035, about 14,000 openings a year
BLS tracks this work under medical records specialists, a category that includes medical coders, who assign the diagnosis and procedure codes used for patient care, health statistics and billing. Specialists typically need a postsecondary certificate, and BLS notes that employers may prefer certified applicants or expect certification soon after hiring.
This is computer work in a healthcare setting, which makes it the most natural fit on this list for someone coming out of an office, administrative or customer-service job. Our career profile for medical records specialists has state-by-state pay, and our guide on how to become a medical biller and coder walks through certification choices.
Electrician
- Median pay: $63,190 (May 2025)
- Typical entry: high school diploma, then a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship
- Outlook: 9% growth from 2025 to 2035, about 72,700 openings a year
Electricians have the most projected openings of the four careers here, according to BLS. They also have the longest path: most learn the trade through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship. The length looks less daunting once you know how an apprenticeship works. You’re hired as an apprentice and paid while you train, so the long timeline doesn’t mean years without income. Our apprenticeships explainer covers how to apply, and our electrician program page lists schools offering classroom training.
Pharmacy Technician
- Median pay: $45,750, or $22.00 an hour (May 2025)
- Typical entry: high school diploma plus a training program; many programs award a certificate in a year or less
- Outlook: 6% growth from 2025 to 2035, about 44,700 openings a year
This is the lowest-paying of the four, but it has a short training path and plenty of openings. According to BLS, most states regulate pharmacy technicians in some way, with requirements that can include a training program, an exam, fees and a criminal background check. Check your state’s rules before you choose a program. Our pharmacy technician career profile has pay by state.
How WIOA Pays for Training
WIOA is the federal law behind the public workforce system. Its dislocated worker program is run by states and local workforce boards through American Job Centers, and the Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop finder lists nearly 2,300 of them nationwide. Eligibility is decided at the job center, but the rules come from federal law.
Who Counts as a Dislocated Worker
Under 29 U.S.C. § 3102(15), you can qualify in any of these situations:
- You were laid off or terminated, or received a layoff notice, and you’re eligible for or have used up unemployment benefits (or have enough work history to show attachment to the workforce), and you’re unlikely to return to your previous industry or occupation.
- You lost your job, or got notice, because of a permanent closure or substantial layoff at your workplace, or your employer has announced your facility will close within 180 days.
- You were self-employed and are now out of work because of economic conditions in your community or a natural disaster.
- You’re a displaced homemaker.
- You’re the spouse of an active-duty service member and lost your job because of a permanent change of duty station, or meet certain other military-spouse criteria.
Job center staff make the final call, so bring your layoff notice, separation paperwork and unemployment claim information to your first visit.
The Training Test You Have to Pass
Qualifying as a dislocated worker opens the door to services. Paid training has its own test. Under 20 CFR § 680.210, job center staff must find that you:
- Are unlikely to get a job that leads to self-sufficiency, or that pays as much as your previous job, through career services alone
- Need training to get there
- Have the skills and qualifications to complete the training
- Are choosing training linked to job opportunities in your area, or in an area you’re willing to commute or relocate to
- Can’t get other grant aid to cover the full cost, including state training funds and Federal Pell Grants, or need WIOA help on top of that aid
Point 5 is why the FAFSA matters even before you’ve picked a school. Point 4 is why “I’ve always wanted to try X” is not enough on its own. Come with a career that has local demand.
Individual Training Accounts and the Approved-Provider List
WIOA training is usually paid through an Individual Training Account (ITA), which you can use only at programs on your state’s Eligible Training Provider List. The Department of Labor’s TrainingProviderResults.gov lists more than 70,000 eligible training programs nationwide. Use it to check that a program is on the list before you get attached to it.
There’s no single national dollar amount. Under 20 CFR § 680.310, the state or local workforce board may set limits on how much an ITA pays and how long it lasts, so caps differ from one area to the next. The same rule allows the account to be topped up with other money, including Pell Grants, scholarships and severance pay. Ask your job center what its cap is in the first meeting.
Is WIOA Funded in 2026?
Yes. Congress funded the WIOA adult, dislocated worker and youth programs for Program Year 2026 in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (Public Law 119-75), signed February 3, 2026, according to the Department of Labor’s 2026 allotment notice. How much training money a given local area has left at any point in the year is a separate question, so ask whether training funds are available now.
Keep Your Unemployment Benefits While You Train
Many people assume going back to school means giving up unemployment benefits. Federal law says otherwise, with one important condition.
Under 26 U.S.C. § 3304(a)(8), a state can’t deny unemployment compensation for any week because you’re “in training with the approval of the State agency.” It also can’t apply its availability-for-work, work-search or refusal-of-work rules to those weeks. In other words, approved training can stand in for the job search.
The condition is in the phrase “with the approval of the State agency.” Approval comes from your state’s unemployment agency, under its own rules, and the process differs from state to state. Don’t assume that being accepted for WIOA funding settles it. Ask the unemployment agency whether your program counts as approved training before your first class, and get the answer in writing if you can.
Step by Step: From Layoff Notice to First Class
- File for unemployment right away. Your claim matters for WIOA eligibility and for the approved-training protection above.
- Find your American Job Center using the CareerOneStop finder. Ask specifically about dislocated worker services and training.
- Narrow down to two or three careers with local demand. Job center staff can tell you which occupations your local board treats as in demand.
- Check programs against your state’s Eligible Training Provider List, using the job center or TrainingProviderResults.gov.
- File the FAFSA. Pell Grants may cover part of the cost, and WIOA expects you to look at other grants first. Our guide to financing trade school explains which aid applies to programs of different lengths.
- Get your training approved by the unemployment agency before you start.
- Compare schools and enroll only after your Individual Training Account is approved and the program is confirmed on the provider list.
Mistakes That Cost Laid-Off Workers Their Funding
- Signing an enrollment agreement before the paperwork is done. Get the Individual Training Account approved first, then enroll.
- Choosing a program that isn’t on the Eligible Training Provider List. Training accounts pay only listed providers, so a school being nearby or advertised is not enough.
- Skipping the FAFSA. Federal rules expect other grant aid, including Pell Grants, to be considered, and the FAFSA is how you apply for Pell.
- Treating WIOA approval as unemployment approval. They come from different agencies. Confirm both.
- Picking a career with no local demand. Training has to connect to jobs where you live or where you’re willing to commute or move.
If an injury, not a layoff, is what ended your last job, our guide to changing careers after a work injury covers workers’ compensation retraining benefits and state vocational rehabilitation. If you want the fastest possible route back to a paycheck, see our list of trade careers with the shortest training.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — “Displaced Workers Summary” (Worker Displacement: 2023–2025) — August 27, 2026 — https://www.bls.gov/news.release/disp.nr0.htm
- Challenger, Gray & Christmas — “Job Cuts Fall in September; Hiring Plans Up 3% Over 2025 On Weak Early Seasonal Hiring” — October 1, 2026 — https://www.challengergray.com/blog/job-cuts-fall-in-september-hiring-plans-up-3-over-2025-on-weak-early-seasonal-hiring/
- U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration — “Program Year 2026 WIOA Allotments, Attachment A” — March 30, 2026 — https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/budget/pdfs/Attachment%20A%20WIOA%20allotments%202026%2026%200330%20FINAL.pdf
- Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute — 29 U.S.C. § 3102(15), definition of “dislocated worker” — accessed October 8, 2026 — https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/3102
- Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute — 20 CFR § 680.210, criteria for WIOA training services — accessed October 8, 2026 — https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/680.210
- Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute — 20 CFR § 680.310, limits on Individual Training Accounts — accessed October 8, 2026 — https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/680.310
- Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute — 26 U.S.C. § 3304(a)(8), unemployment compensation during approved training — accessed October 8, 2026 — https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/3304
- CareerOneStop, U.S. Department of Labor — “American Job Center Finder” — updated February 17, 2026 — https://www.careeronestop.org/LocalHelp/AmericanJobCenters/find-american-job-centers.aspx
- U.S. Department of Labor — TrainingProviderResults.gov — accessed October 8, 2026 — https://www.trainingproviderresults.gov/
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Outlook Handbook: Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers — updated August 27, 2026 — https://www.bls.gov/ooh/installation-maintenance-and-repair/heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Outlook Handbook: Medical Records Specialists — updated August 27, 2026 — https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medical-records-and-health-information-technicians.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Outlook Handbook: Electricians — updated August 27, 2026 — https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/electricians.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Outlook Handbook: Pharmacy Technicians — updated August 27, 2026 — https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/pharmacy-technicians.htm
