What is the deal with the current U.S. job market? According to the most recent jobs report, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment remains unchnaged from the prior month at 9.6%. That report however paints a much rosier picture than a recent Gallup poll, that puts the underemployment rate at about 18.4%. Underemployment is a more accurate assessment of the overall job market in my opinion, as it shows MBAs making, say, entry-level compensation. Or seasoned supervisors and managers making much less than they deserve, and certainly much less than they once did. Part of the problem based on different articles I've read, is that companies have learned to be more productive with less employees. The recession that began in October 2007 (some say it began in mid-2008....fine, whatever the date is), forced companies to become more efficient. And now that an economic recovery begins to slowly rear its head, companies are still ever-mindful of costs, and as such, they are reluctant to hire. What they would rather do, according to this article from AP, is consolidate job-duties among workers that are already on the books. The article points out for example, the manufacturing supervisor who must also learn to operate (and service) the automated machines he or she is operating! A computer tech used to do that. No longer. This has established a paradigm in corporate America that is demanding their managers to "do more with less." The broader responsibilities (of workers/managers) means its harder to fill many of the jobs that are open these days.
I guess we'll see how this thinking by corporate America will eventually play out. Yes, on a short-term basis, consolidation of job duties yields cost-savings and therefore increased earnings. But how will this affect the workforce over a long period of time? Time will tell.
I would also think that since more people are fearful of losing their jobs, they are more than happy to learn additional skills in order to make themselves less replaceable and have a competitive advantage over the person in the next cubicle. In hopes of their neck not being on the chopping block during the next round of layoffs.
ReplyDeleteKind of a "free agent" mentality while giving off the perception of loyalty.
The financial meltdown and the start of the recession shook not just one sector, but the entire economy. And the way it happened started to make the domino effect. Employment in the US and around the world got badly hurt in all sectors. Big companies immediately went in saving mode and started to shed workers in order to do the saving. Other better off companies started to go into merger and acquisition mode, which also brought some consequences for the workers and on employment.
ReplyDeleteI like what Marie said in her comment. People aren't just doing their jobs right now, they're looking for opportunities to do MORE, because when they think that when the bosses get out the list for "who can we get rid of?", if those people are going above and beyond what is expected of them, they're more likely to be kept.
ReplyDeleteI also like that stat about "underemployment". It goes with someone's post a few weeks about the number of people applying for the job at the call center. A lot of people have taken the mindset of "any job is better than no job" right now. It will be interesting to see what that stat does when the economy recovers, I think it would go way down, personally.
I too feel that more people are settling on jobs they currently have based upon the commonly used phrase of a "guarenteed paycheck". Employees are more than reluctant to have a job and may put off looking for their dream job for the time-being.
ReplyDeleteI also feel that when looking at this matter from the companies perspective, there are plenty of people going for their college degree's than there ever have been. And therefore, are able to look at their current employees more as objects than as unique employees in their company. I am also very curious as to where we will be as an economy in May of 2012 when I graduate with my MBA. Let's only hope it will be promising.
I find that one of the biggest things in my industry is to make sure you don't stagnate somewhere for too long. You learn most of your skills at work, not in a classroom, so the best way to keep learning new skills, and simultaneously making yourself valuable, is to switch jobs up every few years. I'm not saying move to another company necessarily, athought that is the quickest way to get a salary increase, but most companies have listings of internal job openings on their intranet and that is a great way to find a new job, learn new skills, and move up in a company. But I'm getting off the topic of the original blog post...
ReplyDeleteAs far as people accepting a job just to have a steady paycheck...well, sometimes you have to. If you need the money to pay bills that are coming in, you'll accept that not so perfect job in order to do that. And I don't blame anyone for doing it either. And as far as MBA's making entry level compensation, there are probably more MBA's out there than there are jobs for them to fill. There's been such an emphasis put on education, expecially higher education, that the market's getting flooded with all of these individuals that have the degrees and no experience. And then there aren't enough job openings for them to even be able to get experience. It's a double-edged sword.
All valid points made by you fine people...and thank you for contributing to this topic. But what do you think the long-term ramifications will be of this "doing more with less" mentality? It's a reality...the data sort of ominously displys that. Will there be less jobs? Is this the better alternative from the companies perspective? OR, is it much simpler than that? Is it, as has always been, once the economy begins an earnest recovery and demand for all products and services increases, companies will begin to hire more? And what else, besides Tom (unless Tom you have more to say of course, which is welcome), do you think of this "underemployment" statistic, that also appears to be given much less attention? Do we as individuals continue to educate ourselves, and learn more skills, and simply make ourselves more valuable? And not worry so much about the macroeconomic landscape? But then, one does affect the other. Just some additional thoughts on the original post, and your folks comments.
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