Whole sector shrinking, should I change fields? - 8 months and counting

Many of the people I know in my field were laid off this year, including me as a medical assistant. I have read a lot of threads here and could not find my exact situation. I have transferable skills but no direct experience elsewhere. How did you choose?

I moved into operations work. The skills carried over and there were more openings than in my old field.

Look at job postings to see which skills repeat, then fill the gap. That gave me a direction.