If You're Not Already Looking for a Job Now...

[RCA]

You Probably Will Be Soon.

http://money.blogs.time.com/2010/07/26/ ... l-be-soon/

[Poyzinous]

I'm quite satisfied with my job now. I don't think I'd look for a new job. Maybe a new location...

[Dattebayo]

That article is stupid.

I don't really need to say why either.

[RCA]

That article is stupid.

I don't really need to say why either.

Then why post?

[Dattebayo]

Okay, fine. It's obviously some kind of attempt at alarming people for no good reason.

[fiznowler]

I would say that article is pretty spot on. Alot of companies treated employees very poorly during all this. I gaurantee if I would have watched my coworkers get canned for no reason then I would be leaving too as soon as the chance came up. I got lucky in that aspect as we are all still here. We did take pay cuts for a year but i suppose that is better than losing your job all together.

[RCA]

Okay, fine. It's obviously some kind of attempt at alarming people for no good reason.

I don't care what any one says, your'e a good kid.

[Encryptshun]

There is some truth to this, of course, but the article makes lots of assumptions which err on the side of sensationalistic media. First off, it's going to be 5 years (give or take) before the economy begins to exhibit any significant and stable growth. Until that happens, the only white-collar industry that will hire aggressively is contingent labor/professional services. Companies are being conservative, which means that if they need resources right now due to a blip or slight uptick, they are going to hire external resources to fill those positions rather than bringing someone in as a full employee. This saves them having to pay fringe, SUTA, FUTA, FICA & workman's comp, and payroll taxes. And right now they can get a contract worker with stellar qualifications and experience for much less than they could get a permanent employee for 4 years ago and use that resource on a project basis with a defined ROI. Eventually, as the economy really does start to pick back up and companies feel more secure hiring permanent employees to rebuild their institutional knowledge base they will suck up the applicants who have been out of the market for a while because they will be able to hire them cheaper and those resources will be behind the professional learning curve (and therefore willing to start back at the bottom). Those who have weathered the layoffs will either get tapped for upper management positions, retained if there is an ongoing need for that job, or will seek out promotional positions at another company.

If I had to put money on it, though, I'd say this recession's longest-lasting effect on companies is how they structure their workforces. I don't think we'll see a return to the bloated payrolls of the last decade for at least another 20 years, and I think that some companies will choose to adopt a more "internal consultant" approach to staffing, hiring external resources for all but the most core jobs. That way if we do end up with a delayed double-dip recession, they won't have to stand the severance costs of another series of layoffs.

/2cents

[IBCoupe]

I didn't read the whole article, so take my comment for what it is.

I wonder if it's just background shifting being stalled up by the poor economy. At any given time, I wonder if there's say, 10 percent of the population that's actively seeking employment elsewhere, but in the two years of a recessed economy that we've enjoyed, that 10 percent has been locked up. Maybe it's not that employers are treating their employees that much more poorly (though, this is certainly the right environment to do it, if you're going to).

With that said, I'm looking for work right now, and I don't see what's so sensational about it.