How Bleak is the Picture?
The national unemployment rate in November 2008 was 6.7%. Factory jobs fell by 90,000 in the past month, while jobs in construction decreased 49,000 and service jobs in the private sector declined by 131,000. And that was just for one month. Statistics alone prove it is hard to keep your job during tough economic times. For every job that is lost, there are so many more that are in jeopardy, as lenders remain afraid to lend and consumers remain afraid to spend.
Which Industries Survive Better During an Economic Turndown?
In the past month’s unemployment statistics, only government and healthcare posted gains among all the industry fields. And the prospects for local government may not be very rosy for much longer. Despite the natural tendency and desire for government at all levels to grow, the brutal fact of the matter is that local governments no longer have the money to spend that they used to have a few years ago. Healthcare should remain strong. We all need to safeguard our health, in good times and bad, and as we find more and more ways to live longer and longer, we find we have more health to safeguard.
Beyond healthcare, with the stressful times, unfortunately comes an increase in unlawful behavior. As a result, law-enforcement and security may offer increased opportunities for employment that may not have been there in more tranquil times. Along that same line, the United States military has not said word one about being too full to take any more applicants.
For some reason the entertainment industry seems to remain invulnerable to recession. Beyond the headline entertainers and athletes, who have very little to worry about, there are a great many people who earn a good and seemingly secure living making sure that the show must go on. I suppose it is because, as difficult as times may be, the more intent we are to seek a momentary escape from them, whether that might be a movie or a basketball game.
Which Industries May Actually Benefit From a Downturn?
Here are two obvious ones right off the bat: lower-end discount retailers and pawnbrokers. The former benefit because they will snatch less of our money away from us for those goods we absolutely must purchase to get by, and the latter because they will replace some of that cash when a little too much of it has been snatched, even for the bare necessities, in exchange for what we now have come to regard as useless frills.
Now, here is a surprise entry, and it will not hold true across the board, because not all businesses are going to react to the recession the same way. Some advertising agencies may thrive. While a number of companies may decide to “hunker down” and pinch every penny there is to be pinched, a great many others are going to see this as their opportunity to get their name out there in front of their hunkering competition, and steal market share. It may not be much in the way of big dollars now, but, when normal spending resumes, it is going to be the aggressive advertisers that people will go to, not the companies whose brand they forgot about. A lot of people are increasing, not decreasing, their advertising budgets these days.
How to Tell if Your Job’s in Jeopardy
This is assuming there are no personal factors afoot. If you have been warned, more than once, about unacceptable work habits, you would be in trouble, even in the best of times. No, this is about factors beyond your control. There are things to look for, “from a distance” and “close-up.”
Video: What you can do to protect your job
From a distance, take note of whether your company has been losing significant amounts of money, not just in the past quarter, but in the past several quarters. Note, if you are able, whether vendors and contractors are grumbling about late payment from your company. Pay attention if your company’s competition downsized and their stock went way up. Most important, note if there have been numerous and significant departures in the upper and middle management ranks. This could signal a new management philosophy that may not be friendly to keeping you and many of your co-workers in your positions. Also, is your company a ripe target for a merger or a takeover?
From a closer vantage point, be alert if you are asked to write a job description for your position or if temporary workers are being used to replace employees in your department who have left. Also be alert for discussions about restructuring your job. Generally that will not be a good thing for you. Make note if equipment or software you ought to have to most effectively do your job is not being updated. Rumors start up and management is particularly strident about quashing them. These are not all the telltale signs, but they are certainly things to look out for.
If you are in government, you may want to keep a ear tuned to the political higher-ups talking about “privatization” as a potential bone they can throw to angry taxpayers, but your biggest worry is going to be how much money is coming into the till (not enough), and how that is going to affect your job.
How to Keep Your Job During a Downsizing?
First, let’s start with the obvious. You should have been turning in good-quality work, at the very least. Along with that, your work should not carry the price tag of an “attitude problem.” If you have been somebody the manager has had to put up with, in order to get the work out of you, no matter how good that work might be, you are still a drain on that manager’s emotional resources. And, while you cannot be fired for putting your boss through the wringer, you won’t be recommended for retention in a downsizing. You also need to have been reliable. You might have had (in your own mind) a perfectly legitimate reason for being out sick 42 days last year and late another 53, but all those legitimate reasons will not add up to so much as one job if it’s between you and the lady in the next cubicle over who hasn’t been late or sick in over three years. Another thing you want to do, and it would be so much better if you have been doing this all along, is to be helpful to everyone.
Video: How to keep your job
Can Adult Education Help?
Generally, it can. Education is a good thing, and it can open a number of doors. If you get a bachelor’s degree, for example, there are many more jobs that will become available to you that you would not have been eligible to apply for as a high-school graduate. It doesn’t matter that you did not get your degree from Harvard. To get your foot in the door, at lot of times, all that matters is that you have the degree. The same principal applies to various levels of professional certification. They are useful, not only for the education you receive but for the official endorsement you get from the appropriate sanctioning agency stating that you are indeed educated to this level of proficiency.
Which States Have the Highest Employment Statistics?
To put it inversely, which states have the lowest unemployment rates? Looking at the rates for November, 2008, here are the eight lowest-rated states:
Wyoming (3.2)
North Dakota (3.3)
South Dakota (3.4)
Utah (3.7)
Nebraska (3.7)
New Mexico (4.3)
New Hampshire (4.3)
Iowa (4.3)