Ernie Bjorkman: laid off TV anchorman becomes veterinary technician

Ernie Bjorkman at last year's Democratic National Convention.

Ernie Bjorkman, 57, is a tall, distinguished-looking gentleman with coiffed silver hair and calm blue eyes. He is accustomed to wearing elegant suits, dining on $400 steak dinners, and vacationing with his wife at their sprawling mountain retreat.

But these days, you're more apt to find him wearing scrubs and sneakers, peering at an injured dog with a syringe in his hand, eyeglasses perched on the end of his nose. 

After 36 years as a television journalist, Bjorkman was informed last year that he was being laid off. His television station had merged with another and his position had become redundant. 

On a "20/20" episode that aired January 16, Bjorkman describes how he was handed a purple folder, letting him know that he'd been fired. Inside the folder were his severance papers.

Hoping it wouldn't happen, but fearing that it might, Bjorkman had started taking classes three years earlier at a local community college, seeking an alternative career. He'd always loved animals, but at his age, he didn't think he could take the eight years of schooling required to be a veterinarian.

He became a vet tech instead. When he finds a job, he will be taking an 80% pay cut. "I made about $250,000 a year as an anchor, and I'll be making around $30,000 or less now," Bjorkman says. 

Bjorkman working as a vet tech.

He and his wife are already planning for a drastic lifestyle change. Bjorkman has donated his suits to a local organization. Unable to afford paying two mortgages, they are selling their $450,000 Denver condo and $800,000 mountain home--in the middle of a terrible housing market. Bjorkman's wife will have to return to work and he has already applied for unemployment benefits.

While his wife is struggling with the manner in which her husband was terminated ("It wasn't respectful," she cried) and lamenting the loss of their comfortable lifestyle, Bjorkman isn't as concerned. "I think we're going to enjoy life better," he says. "We're going to have to get used to being together a lot more." 

At the end of his final newscast last December, Bjorkman finished by saying, "Thank you and God bless each and every one of you...if you got a sick animal, bring 'em to me."

I think what I do now is going to be priceless. Nobody can take that away from me. I can do that until I die. Maybe not get paid a lot of money, but I think the profession I'm going into is a very great profession, an honored profession. So I think my self-worth is way up there.

--Ernie Bjorkman, when asked if he felt worthless because he lost his $250,000 per year anchor job and is now seeking work as a veterinary technician making $30,000 or less. 

Some may call it naivete; others resilience. But Bjorkman displays an optimism that's inspiring.

"I didn't take it that I was fired. I should I guess...because I was," he says. "I firmly believe that if one door closes, several others open."