Comment Re:Question (Score 2) 323
For quite a long time now it's become clear that the only way to survive retrenchment is to plan for it -- which leaves you faced with options that all suck. Since forever, I've banked 10% of my pay and 50-75% of my annual leave. It seems impossible until you realise necessary > impossible. At 47, I was retrenched, but had the accumulated resources to retrain myself from C++ desktop to C# web/enterprise. I wrote software all day every day, and the interviews where I excelled were the ones that required a coding competency demonstration. I nailed two positions pretty much at the same time with absolutely nil commercial C# experience. I'm presently with a consultancy as a senior dev on a senior consulting track, mentoring work mates and clients in a language I had barely touched two years ago.
My advice is cold call some consulting groups, keeping in mind relocation and travel may be necessary. I've found them much more switched on than the pointy hairs leading in-house teams.