Job Security?

Is there such a thing anymore? I mean, other than maybe politicians, high powered CEO’s and Supreme Court justices, I really wonder if there’s anyone else that feels truly secure in their jobs. This is something that affects everyone from blue collar to white collar (though the newly coined green collar jobs might be more secure under the new Administration). How do people plan for the future in this unsure climate? How did our ancestors do it during the Great Depression? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

I think it’s interesting what some companies do to try to keep themselves afloat in this economic climate. Of course, we only see the things that directly affect the employees but I do wonder what cost saving measures are taken behind the scenes. Like, does upper management take pay cuts, do they reduce capital expenditure to save money, do they streamline wasteful processes, do they negotiate lease terms or consolidate monthly bills?

I wonder because the other things they do directly affect employee morale. For instance, companies that change insurance policies to save money ultimately costing individuals more in copays and deductibles.

Then there’s forced unpaid days off. This one I’m kind of okay with, especially if you can do one day here and there. For me it’s a great excuse to turn off the Blackberry but for many losing a day’s worth of pay per pay period might make or break their budget.

Here’s a new one I haven’t seen until now though, and I’m not sure what I think of it. A lot of companies have rules on the number of vacation days you can roll over. This is usually in place so that too many days aren’t on the books at year end. This shows up as money owed on a balance sheet. Some companies are changing the usual rules such that the amount of time you can roll over is greatly reduced, forcing employees to take a large majority of their time off before year end.

For anyone that had been saving up time for a vacation or special occasion in 2010 this kind of messes up those plans. But the scarier thought is that if this cost cutting measure doesn’t work and the US economy continues to tank and they have to take the next step of layoffs in 2010, no one will have any banked vacation time to live on while job hunting.

That said, it’s better to have a job (even if you don’t feel secure) than not have a job. And things have to start looking up at some point, I just don’t know how soon that will be. So I guess we all just have to suck it up and make the best of it.

On a side note, I did see a news clip talking about Detroit automobile employees and how there are training groups and support groups for those displaced employees to learn new skills and become nurses. Considering both require manual dexterity it’s a decent crossover, though not the most obvious. Plus, the healthcare field is like the one area that is hiring and has projected deficits in the number of qualified healthcare professionals. So maybe there is a little light at the end of the tunnel?