Wes Bucey
Prophet of Profit
An ugly title for a thread about some ugly facts.
A lot of anecdotal information is trickling in from employment agencies, job counselors, and state unemployment bureaus, soon to be followed, I think, by some hard statistical data:
After the brutal layoffs beginning in 1982 (mild compared to the current rounds), The U.S. Social Security Administration reported these statistics:
People who lost stable jobs in 1982 suffered an immediate 30% drop in annual earnings. As a group, they never recovered Ten years later (1992) SSA reported their net earnings were down 20% from a similar statistical group who had NOT been laid off. After 15 years they were still down 10% from the control group. As of 2002, they still hadn't caught up.
A laid off employee, depending on the industry he's leaving, has a less than even chance of making at least as much as he was making before being laid off if and when he finally gets another job.
In the investment banking industry, many of the laid off employees are receiving job offers at only about 60% of the previous wage.
The older an employee is when laid off, the longer it takes to land a new job; the higher the probability the replacement job will pay less than 75% of the previous job.
Projections are that an average laid off employee will never earn enough in the rest of his career (adjusted for inflation) to break even for the lost wages during unemployment combined with the lower initial starting salary when re-employed even accounting for periodic raises at the new or subsequent jobs.
Some rays of sunshine:
Despite all the gloom and doom, some folks are making job transitions which pay more than the previous job AND supply some work satisfaction to boot.
We need to remember statistics are based on large numbers of individuals. The first question in our minds should be: "How can I separate myself from the pack and stand out in a prospective employer's eyes so I can earn the optimum salary and improve my lot in life instead of falling behind?"
First, let's examine some of the factors that go into most of the folks who fall into the doom and gloom category getting into such a predicament.
A lot of anecdotal information is trickling in from employment agencies, job counselors, and state unemployment bureaus, soon to be followed, I think, by some hard statistical data:
After the brutal layoffs beginning in 1982 (mild compared to the current rounds), The U.S. Social Security Administration reported these statistics:
People who lost stable jobs in 1982 suffered an immediate 30% drop in annual earnings. As a group, they never recovered Ten years later (1992) SSA reported their net earnings were down 20% from a similar statistical group who had NOT been laid off. After 15 years they were still down 10% from the control group. As of 2002, they still hadn't caught up.
A laid off employee, depending on the industry he's leaving, has a less than even chance of making at least as much as he was making before being laid off if and when he finally gets another job.
In the investment banking industry, many of the laid off employees are receiving job offers at only about 60% of the previous wage.
The older an employee is when laid off, the longer it takes to land a new job; the higher the probability the replacement job will pay less than 75% of the previous job.
Projections are that an average laid off employee will never earn enough in the rest of his career (adjusted for inflation) to break even for the lost wages during unemployment combined with the lower initial starting salary when re-employed even accounting for periodic raises at the new or subsequent jobs.
Some rays of sunshine:
Despite all the gloom and doom, some folks are making job transitions which pay more than the previous job AND supply some work satisfaction to boot.
We need to remember statistics are based on large numbers of individuals. The first question in our minds should be: "How can I separate myself from the pack and stand out in a prospective employer's eyes so I can earn the optimum salary and improve my lot in life instead of falling behind?"
First, let's examine some of the factors that go into most of the folks who fall into the doom and gloom category getting into such a predicament.
- They got laid off. That means they weren't paying enough attention to the handwriting on the wall to do one of two things - get out while the getting was good or make themselves invaluable so they survived the job cuts.
- They were ineffective in the job hunt to find a good employer who would value their skill and experience and pay accordingly. This usually means they weren't systematic and efficient in choosing targets for their job campaign or that they had vague or erroneous ideas about their own skills and experience and how those could be communicated to an employer to demonstrate their value to an employer.
- They didn't have sufficient resources to sustain an effective job hunt. Sometimes, saddled with debts and daily living expenses for themselves and families, job hunters find themselves forced to accept the first job that comes along, regardless of wage, just to put food on the table.
- They stopped aggressively looking for the ideal job once they landed just any job. The frustration and stress of a less than successful job hunt creates a depression which casts a pall over everything in the job hunter's life. His relations with individuals (family, friends, coworkers) suffers, contributing to a poor work relationship, further limiting success factors which will enable him to beat the statistics.
- They repeat poor habits which enhance chances for being the victims in the next round of layoffs. Addicts of all sorts are notorious for relapses and recidivism because they find their old habits comfortable and easy compared to the stress of reinventing themselves. Many of the addicts (whether it is chemicals or habits) have such a big blind spot, they don't even recognize they have an addiction.
- They got laid off. Even when the top managers of an organization do not practice or promote Deming's theory about the System of Profound Knowledge (SoPK), employees need to make themselves knowledgeable about the big picture of the organization. When we know about products, markets, suppliers, customers, and competitors, we CAN see the handwriting on the wall. We can make value judgments whether to invest time and energy trying to help our organization excel or whether to seek greener pastures. AA, sometimes known as Friends of Bill, uses the Serenity Prayer to help its members. It might be a good mantra for us all to adopt, regardless of our affinity for organized religion, when engaged in that decision making.
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference. [/FONT] - They were ineffective in the job hunt. There are countless books and websites out there which can help folks learn the basics of a good job hunt. Unfortunately, there are also a lot out there which are pure dreck and absolutely worthless. At the bottom of this post, I list some threads here in the Cove which include references to good sites and contain some valuable advice. Current or prospective job hunters (we almost all fall into either or both categories) owe it to themselves to at least read through those threads.
- They didn't have sufficient resources to sustain an effective job hunt. This is tough. If you are out of work now, without resources, you might consider part-time or contract work to help keep the wolf away from the door. Just don't fall into the trap of stopping or putting your search on hold. Even the part-time job you take on should involve some planning to assure flexibility for job research and taking time off to pursue job interviews.
- They stopped aggressively looking for the ideal job. This is primarily a psychological issue. Don't be ashamed or embarrassed to pursue outside help in the form of groups, counselors, even therapists if you suspect you are in this category.
- They repeat poor habits. Just like New Year's Resolutions, many folks find their resolve to change dissolves in a month or so. The first step is awareness. When you make that resolution to change, have you really thought through what actions you need to undertake to maintain that resolution? Most change initiatives, whether personal or corporate, fail simply because there was insufficient planning to enable the nitty gritty details necessary to implement the change. It's hard, for example, to maintain a clean plant environment if management doesn't supply funds for brooms and dustpans and wastebaskets. The situation goes back to Biblical days (Exodus 5:1 - 6:1) when Pharoah didn't provide straw for his slaves to make bricks. In our personal lives, if we want to create our own SoPK, it means we have to take steps to get that knowledge: reading trade journals, asking questions and paying attention to the answers, anything we can do to acquire that knowledge, not just sit back and hope to have it ooze into our brain by some sort of passive osmosis.
- Is this stuff too obvious?
- Is it too scary?
- Does it motivate you to change your present way of dealing with your career?
- Why or why not?
The job threads:
Candidates:
Thinking about a New Job for New Year?
Resume and cover letter - How good are yours?
The Job Hunt - Care and feeding of references
Tips to get past the "gatekeeper" when job hunting
Consulting – Is it in YOUR Career Future?
Contracting/Temping - Viable Alternates in Tough Times
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