Like it or not, employed or not, you’re in the middle of the busiest business intersection you’re likely to experience. It’s hard to know whether to wait for traffic to clear, cross against it, or jump in and go with the flow. One thing’s for sure, you can’t stay in one place for long, so what do you do? Let’s look at the possibilities.
Wait for traffic to clear: The last time the economy went south and took employment with it, significant numbers of twenty and thirty-somethings, caught between too many layoffs and too few jobs, sat it out by applying to graduate schools, and schools of medicine and law. If they finished their respective programs (many did not), they ran into some unexpected obstacles. They had either glutted the market they gambled on and there were no positions available, or they didn’t want the jobs for which the degree prepared them. Instead of getting ahead of the game, they lost time, money, and momentum.
This a great time to enhance your education, just do it wisely and do it without dropping out of the workforce. Take courses that improve your ability to do what you do best, talk to industry insiders, network with heavy hitters who have gone where you want to go. Think they won’t talk to you? Give it a try. It’s likely they have more time and readiness to talk now, when the market is flat, than when they’re too busy to give a rip.
Stay employed.If you can’t get the job you want, deal with it by finding work that enables you to cross train in your industry, area of specialization, or allied field. What’s the advantage? You’ve increased your arena of experience, your marketablity, and your workplace credibility. With increased employment flexibility you’re likely to stay employed longer.
Stay alert. Watch out for pot holes, like lower salaries and fewer benefits. In an effort to stay afloat without major layoffs, businesses are cutting payroll by offering less in salaries, wages, and bonuses. Take it in stride. When the economy turns around, salaries and perks will slowly rebound. Here’s why:
Many employees are waiting out the recession, holding onto jobs they need but don’t want, working for companies or bosses they don’t like. As soon as the economic tides shift, and jobs become available, so will they. Companies will respond accordingly, competing with increased salaries and improved benefits.
Employer nerves are frayed, and for good reason. They’re doing whatever they can to stay in business, keep the creditors at bay, and their employees working. Yet, try as they might, they don’t feel valued for their efforts. If anything, they feel that employees want for more than they can give. Instead of appreciating the fact that they’re employed, they complain about longer hours and shorter pay. They don’t seem to realize that the alternative is the unemployment line. Instead of seeing a loyal work force, they see one that is tentative at best, and struggling at worst.
On the other hand, some employees aren’t feeling too charitable about their employers, and for good reason. Every day feels like “what have you done for me lately?” They’re working more because their co-workers have been laid off and they haven’t the good will or energy to put up with the stress of wondering “Will I be the next one to go?”
Embattled employers will do well to see their employees as a lifeline to the future. The company may not be able to pay them more or work them less. They can let them know in countless and creative ways that their work makes a difference, and that the business is surviving because of them.
It’s important that employers acknowledge that employees struggle with debt, family obligations, and the fear that all Americans share when at the cross roads of economic shift and national challenge. Acknowledge and appreciate their loyalty and your commitment to find ways to make good on their sacrifice. And mean it.
