Whole sector shrinking, should I change fields? (update)

Many of the people I know in my field were laid off this year, including me as an IT help-desk technician. I do not usually post, so bear with me. The postings I see are fewer and ask for more. How did you choose?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 5 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.