by Erica Pandey @ Axios.com, Dec. 8

Even after the pandemic is behind us, millions of jobs — most of them in the travel and service industries — will be gone forever, and workers are figuring out their next moves.

The big picture: Pivoting from one career to a whole new one is a difficult feat, but many have pulled it off. That could be a good sign for America's resilience amid the pandemic's economic destruction.

• "The American worker has proven to be extremely adaptable," says Jane Oates, president of WorkingNation, a nonprofit that raises awareness about the challenges facing U.S. workers, and a former Labor Department official.

There are examples of pivoting from the worker level all the way up to the Fortune 500 level, she says.

• Former bartenders and restaurant workers have joined training programs and found new jobs at tech companies, the New York Times reports.
• Restaurants are selling groceries as a new way to make money in the era of social distancing.
• GM pivoted from cars to ventilators when America needed to fill a shortage.

Case in point: I spoke with Deleyse Rowe, who worked on a cruise ship's service staff until her entire industry was walloped by the pandemic in March. [....]