[AlwaysRock]

Exactly this. You can be the best Physical Security - Spacecraft Engineer (making up a title obviously) on the planet who can make sure no unauthorized entities get into a spacecraft but if you piss off the 5 people who run spacecraft companies you will be unemployed.

[WalterBright]

Oh phooey. Expertise like that is very transferable. I didn't have any trouble transitioning from being an aerospace gearbox expert to writing software and then compilers.

[_moof]

Ok. And if you don't want to write compilers?

Not everyone wants to make a career change, especially not folks in the space business.

[WalterBright]

If you decide that you only want to work in a very narrow niche that only exists in one company, it's a prison of your own making. Not the company's.

P.S. I was also offered a position at Sikorsky working on helicopter designs.

[bumby]

My experience agrees with the OP. Aerospace is sometimes considered a subset of mechanical engineering which is a very broad field that can be applied across many domains.

Now if you've spent your career in a very narrow subset of that field and not developed transferrable skills along the way, I'm not sure the fault is entirely the employer's.

[AlwaysRock]

Right. I have a skill set from a previous job that I don't use anymore. I could get hired tomorrow to do that job again but I have no interest in it. I guess if we are saying highly skilled people can find another job then I agree but that wasnt the argument.