"I've been sending out resumes for...let's see...over ten years now. Aerospace, power plant, instrumentation, nuclear, electrical engineering."
Maybe at age 55 folks expect you to have focused a little more on your specific areas of expertise. It is a very rare engineer that is proficient in all the areas that you mentioned - most likely you are applying for jobs that you really aren't qualified for.
Send me your resume, and I'll give you more specific feedback. If after 10 years of looking and you've not had a SINGLE response........the problem is not the market, or offshoring.
Who do you know that has built nuclear plants, launched space shuttles, activated steam turbines and mobile launch platforms, built office buildings, worked as a machinist, electronic tech, plumber, electrician, TV repairman (remember those?), built airplanes from scratch, done masonry, concrete work, architecture, roofing, AutoCAD, project management, and castrated goats?
Thanks for the offer, but there is nothing wrong with my resume. There is simply no demand in post-industrial America for someone like me who knows how do do everything pretty well. It just confuses the hell out of the HR people who vet the resumes.