The American Job: The Promise of Instability
mrjimmyneutron
marctasmanI feel insecure about my job. Although I work in a traditionally stable field, due to changes in the economy and shifts in local demographics my employer is in a restructuring cycle. I’m not sure if I, or my employer, will exist in the same manner as we currently do by this time next year, let alone in five years.
What job am I describing? If the answer seems vague, that is because I just described pretty much every legitimate career field in the US and, realistically, in most of the world. Doubt it? What, then, is left as a secure choice of employment?
Let’s start at the top and work our way down the Ladder of Misfortune. Wall Street execs, generally among the most consistently overcompensated workers in the US, are facing pay cuts of 30-40%. Doesn’t make me feel bad, but there is a small sense of Schadenfreude in seeing the suits take even a minor hit from the economy they helped ruin.
As for lawyers, specifically newly graduated ones, looks like there are not many jobs available there as law schools lure fewer students. Professional athletics? All four major leagues have experienced strikes and/or lockouts in the past few years, and many of the smaller market teams are facing elimination. The cream of the crop keep getting richer, sure, but the benchwarmers of professional league sports have fewer years of actual productivity by far than people in more typical professions.
Teachers, who traditionally have been considered bargain basement resources for America, are now accused in certain circles of being overpaid. Even though one can hardly watch the national news without coming across district downsizing due to state budget cuts, there is still a palpable feeling from both ends of the economic spectrum that professional educators are worthy of jealousy and contempt over the illusion of their job and retirement security.
aflcioBeyond the above careers, things just get ugly. Construction jobs? Not since the housing market collapse. Restaurant employment? Barely a day passes with a local or chain restaurant closing, taking their all-you-can eat rib specials with them. Retail? Not if you’re looking for 40+ hours per week with benefits.
Even famous people are being kicked down the Ladder of Misfortune. Being a Republican politician in Montgomery County, PA was a safe career choice for over 100 years. Not any more. Marrying a celebrity? Safe gig for about 3 months. Being a celebrity’s doctor? Good for a while, but there is a risk of potential jail time for manslaughter. Being the winningest coach in NCAA football history? Don’t ask.
Safer to be in China? Only until the bubble bursts.
Safer to work in Europe? Probably better off staying in America.
What to make of this? At best, this across the field job neurosis could inspire a sense of camaraderie, a shared misery that reduces the jealousy and hostility that I’m all too afraid will define this era. If 1% of the country (or is it of the world?) is truly in their own, misfortune-proof stratosphere, then that leaves 99% of us that have shared fears, interests, and hopes. There is a weird sort of freedom in knowing that even if upward mobility is not in many of our futures, at least we don’t have to worry about keeping up with the Joneses, because the Joneses probably aren’t moving up, either.
Reader Comments (3)
Great links, especially the China Bubble, and poignant observations. Perhaps our parents and grandparents believed in a more stable America. Things do cost more and more today. Not the fancy things, but just regular living things that we need to survive. I think this fear is real and we have less and less confidence of bouncing back because employment is based so much on skills and networking for a job that can actually make you feel middle class. This is coupled by the rising cost of healthcare that grows in ordinate amounts. My parents paid two dollars for us to visit the doctor. Today I pay 20 or 30 dollars everytime I need something signed or get my family looked at.
One job I do not want to see go is the post man. I believe it is one of the best occupations that connect people and times for almost a century. I believe I will see the end of this job in my lifetime and we will talking to our grandkids like the mailman was the milk man.
Self-Reliance is the actual goal. Living within the means of one job for a couple or a half a salary for one person. We need to utilize social programs. It is an economic climate of fear but a great time to take inventory of what is essential and cast off all the rest. It will not only lower stress but make us independent. And if that happens, the 99% wins.
Great lunch.
This was an interesting article about the most stressful and perhaps overrated jobs. You decide.
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/power-your-future/12-most-overrated-jobs-221553598.html
The newest Time was all about Social Mobility. As is standard it simply promoted the most commons sense answer for improved social mobility, education. It addressed how other comparative countries, such as in Europe, have been able to successfully enhance social mobility better than America, primarily through more effective educational practices. Yet, some of these same countries have astoundingly higher unemployment rates and are on a precipice of absolute economic collapse.
Realistically though, the notion that education can save everyone is absurd. Yes, college graduates have lower unemployment rates, but many of these employed college graduates are working far below their educational credentials, often in jobs usually held by non-college graduates. The complexity of these current economic struggles, which are due to decades of poor political, social, economic and educational policies, need a much closer look than most Americans and others are willing to do.
Your piece provides a wonderful, objective and partisan balance that we are all struggling, even athletes and CEOs. I can only hope that the recognition of our struggles will lead to some greater level of collaboration on a political front to help resolve the growing the crisis of instability throughout the world.