I've seen quite a few people jump into construction here in the Houston area from other industries (primarily from O&G layoffs, etc). There's a good bit of opportunity as construction (especially residential) seems to be going strong in the major cities. I think some people shy away because of the misconception that the only opportunities out there are builders/superintendents. That simply not true. Lots of opportunities in sales and field roles, but there are plenty of jobs out there that translate well from other industries (accounting, procurement, planning, IT, etc). I work in the building materials supplier side of things and I would love to see some people come in from other industries to give some fresh perspective and ideas. The VAST majority of our mid to high level employees have never worked for another company, much less in a different industry and it shows (in a bad way).