ecently I was in a workplace the day of a massive layoff. An entire division was shut down. I’m not getting into details to keep confidentiality, and respect the privacy of those who had to find work elsewhere.
Conventional wisdom would advise that if you don’t know exactly what you want to do, it’s hard to brand yourself. I understand that as a concrete idea, but what if we look at branding as an organic process of self discovery?
Turns out the prediction was on target. Last January a number of work life trackers voiced concern, along with the rest of the world about the job market. In my post in January of 2008 entitled, ‘It’s job security, Stupid’ , I wrote that growing unemployment data, the slowing economy, lingering fallout from the sub-prime crisis and outsourcing due to expanded technology would put a mighty dent into our future job market. It wasn’t brain surgery.
Outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. offered a tasty side dish with its jobs report today which predicted that job cuts next year will surpass 1 million. It touted social networking tools such as video resumes – as the wave of the future job search in the face of rising unemployment.
Let your mind wander to the first day of your job – assuming you’re employed. The grass was greener back then, the future landscape more hopeful, and your career was on its way into a new journey of exploration.
The financial meltdown shook the worldwide markets, but it’s the reaction in the workplace that is triggering fear among employees. Layoffs abound, and it’s a difficult atmosphere for those left behind. Picture survivors guilt – combined with personal fear that you might be next and you have a free fall on the morale index. Perhaps the most disturbing factor is that the uncertainty of whether that ax will keep falling, has everyone on the edge of their seats – not in their seats at their most productive.
If you’re one of the few “lucky” ones trying to keep it together in the office, here are some strategies you can put to use to cultivate a resilient and safe disposition.
The job hunt these days seems as tough as nailing down worklife balance – even if you have a job. Either way, a number of studies over the last few years indicate that about three-quarters of Americans hate their jobs.
Everyone and their brother is writing about, talking about, blogging about – job security. Are the job numbers a harbinger of “the worst is yet to come?” Whether they are or not, if we get caught up in the glass half empty approach, we’re bound to manifest some chaotic episode in our careers or in the workplace
I received a phone call yesterday from a dear friend who with shallow breath immediately began to review a dream from the night before. It was one that put thoughts of job security on the front burner.
