To increase your job security and career well-being, adopt a
free agent outlook on work. This means spending time planning ahead, building
marketable skills, and prioritizing your health and family. Doing so will
empower you in the job market.
Americans are vulnerable to forced career and job changes –
this is the nature of our economy and our physical and mental frailty as human
beings. I know this personally and from years practicing labor and employment
law and volunteering at my neighborhood legal clinic. Statistics also bear this
out.
Today the number of long term unemployed people (out of work
over 6 months) remains historically high, at nearly 30% of the total
unemployed. More than 22% of the unemployed have been out of work for over a
year. (
BLS, 2015)
Americans are also financially vulnerable. A
recent Gallup poll found that half of us are unprepared for sudden financial need, like a
major purchase, medical event, or job loss.
Lastly, employers are outsourcing the jobs we thought were safe from export. In just one example, technology workers at Disney were laid off after training foreign "guest" workers as replacements. A
recent New York Times article explains this is not an isolated instance.
People’s stories of feeling trapped in and out of jobs haunt me. They feel
powerless and acted upon by employers, mostly by legal means, and a rapidly
changing job market. And they are educated people, like technology workers, business
owners, teachers, police officers, and financial professionals. Any of us
gainfully employed could be one of them.
But we can do things now to make ourselves less vulnerable. Instead
of feeling trapped or ill-prepared for the next layoff, we can plan ahead for
our next job or career change.
Adopting this outlook will help, as will saving more money this year
for your emergency fund. Having
Plan B and a safety net go a long way toward increasing your job security.
One way I follow this advice is by keeping my lawyer “bar
card” active and volunteering to keep my legal skills strong even though I have
no plans to return to my own law practice. I still get to do what enjoyed most
as a lawyer without the stress or overhead hassle.
We don’t need to be as vulnerable and many of us have the power
to do something about it. Don’t let day to day work distract you from what
matters most and your job security.
