Help Wanted...

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning and I’m updating my resume…not because I want to but because I have to given the current environment. The following article is the “writing on the wall” warning the worst is yet to come and no one is safe:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/07/news/economy/jobs_october/index.htm?cnn=yes

I was a casualty of the tech boom so I’ve become very in tune with the warning signs of impending doom. Being employed in the financial sector, I see a great deal of the same indicators yet none of my co-workers share my concern…most feel I’m being paranoid. Maybe…but history is a good teacher if you pay attention to the lesson. It seems most Americans are also oblivious to the further declines and how weakness in several sectors will ripple through the entire economy resulting in job loss.



This time the game has changed because of the tightened credit market. Back in 2002 when I got laid-off, credit was freely available and many simply ran up credit cards balances to carry them through until they found new jobs. That’s not the case now so it puts everyone in peril if job loss is wide spread and sustained. Think about your property values if foreclosures were to surge in your neighborhood?

There will be no safe sectors this time around…even government jobs will be impacted. My friend is always searching for a government job because he believes it’s “lifetime” employment with a pension and no worries. I hate to burst his bubble but there are NO perfect jobs out there and no job is guaranteed forever. In some respects, I’d like to have the security of jobs back in the 50’s when you punched the clock, did your job and went home only to get up and do it again tomorrow. I think everyone wants that type of stability in life but it’s never going to happen again. Maybe one of my next posts will be on the impacts of globalization and how it set us on a path to lower standard of living in the US.

My father is fond of saying “the only thing that remains constant is change” and that’s absolutely true (and not always a bad thing). Change keeps us from becoming complacent and often leads to something much better on the other side…but the change itself can still be painful. No matter how much you like your job, cherish a possession or love someone you’ve got to be prepared to let it go because it will happen whether you like it or not. If the change is for the better, enjoy the moment. If it isn’t, cut it away and know that nothing lasts forever…not matter how much you want it to.