Is my job safe?
Is your job safe? If you say,”yes,” I think you’re full of it. If you think you are safe, you have not thought about it enough. I thought I had a rock solid job but I have to tell you, making sure I have a Plan B is my Plan A right now. How many other young professionals feel that way?
It’s tough to write about this but I have to tell you– no one is safe. Some of the nation’s biggest businesses are laying people off in mass records. Everyone needs to be a watching the news. If you’re not, you are missing news about the biggest crisis facing our nation in many years. Don’t bury your head in your job– PAY ATTENTION! Do you think the economy can recover?
I invite our NewlyCorporate.com readers to participate in a discussion with other young professionals about the recession and its implications on our professional lives.
Let’s talk about it. Start a dialogue in our comment section:
What do you really think about the current economic situation?
How many more layoffs will there be?
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My company is laying off people here and there. We are just rolling out a new product at the moment, so it’d be hard to lay people off. As a support staffer, I don’t know how safe my job is. I contribute far more than some of my peers and still have an entry level , but I never really know. I can only keep showing up and working hard.
I’m contracted with a major company in a recession-proof industry. Financial Services professionals will never be short on work. People will always having planning needs, will always have investment needs, will always have insurance needs, will always have estate and tax needs.
No jobs are safe. I just switched careers to a “safer” industry..and then I found out they were facing budget cuts that could result in a loss of staff. Rough rough.
I work on the technical sales side of things in the software business, so I feel my job is pretty safe. My company can’t sell their product without people like me. If I were bad at my job, then I’d be worried. I’m sure some will go, but top performers are always safe. Also, I just got a job offer from linkedin. So if I did get fired, I guess this particular job market is still safe.
I do feel like no job is totally safe — however, if you can make yourself an absolutely outstanding employee who is an indispensable part of the team, then you’re already better off than most!
I work in an industry that’s supposedly “recession proof,” but I’ve heard hints of layoffs here too because we’re all at the mercy of the client.
I think the economic state is going to get worse before it gets better. The wave of layoffs has just started to move on from financial companies to company shareholders of financial businesses. But I’ve also still heard that companies are hiring, albeit less often, so there’s definitely hope for those who are marketable.
Talking to a few friends on the job hunt, they have found plenty of jobs, however the starting salaries are a bit lower because of the economy and because there are more applicants.
Additionally, I think it is important to look at the profitability of your company. Companies that remain profitable during the recession will probably not be cutting jobs. If your company is not profitable, I would definitely start saving more money.
I think most industries are in big trouble, and there’s still a lot of layoffs to come.
That said, I think there are two industries that are (relatively) safe: education and healthcare. They’re still hiring plenty of people in those industries…
I’m the assistant to the CEO of a Private Equity firm, and Im pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to function without me. I do everything from scheduling business meetings, personal travel, buy his car, wires money to his kids, help his wife figure out the computer, buy office furniture, his tuxedoes… everything. Until our company goes down, I think Im safe. And Im probably the cheapest employee anyways… I should do something about that!
I work in the education industry, and while looking for new jobs now, there are a ton in my field out there. I do not think that I am totally safe, the college I work for now is in the midst of huge budget cuts (that have not affected jobs..yet) however, I do feel like I am in a very safe industry.
I’m an expat working at an arts and culture consulting firm in Beijing. 15 art galleries are closing every week in this city, and much of the art demand side is gone in the form of canceled tours, for example. The recession is taking an interesting toll in China because while many jobs here aren’t safe, I know there will never be a shortage of highly paid English teaching jobs for native speakers.
I’m currently in an IT rotational leadership program due to role off program in the upcoming year. I work at large company that has been told to keep headcount numbers absolutely flat for the next year yet my colleagues and I will be needing roles in the upcoming months. They don’t want to cut their pipeline of future leaders (especially not after investing $200K per person during our time on program) so while I may take comfort in knowing that they will be sure to find me a position, I also know that anywhere I go, it’s going to be at the expense of somebody else losing their job. With IT program budgets being slashed across the board, I imagine will be a challenge to find many places that aren’t in a hiring freeze.