There’s nothing like a new year to fool us into thinking that things will be different.
The holidays come, the holidays go, and many of us will look back on 365 days of mistakes & missed opportunities and feel kind of blue. Some of us choose to look forward to the new year with optimism and joy in order to stay sane — and unfortunately, most of us are chumps.
A new year means nothing if we don’t learn from the mistakes of the past. And you know how this goes. We never learn.
So with guarded optimism and low expectations, here are my employment-related predictions for 2010.
The Good
- Recession fashion will still be trendy. Hoodies and yoga pants will be acceptable public attire for the unemployed. You don’t need to color your hair, shave, or buy the latest wrinkle cream. We will all look like crap in the new year.
The Bad
- You will still dislike your job and your boss — and you won’t get a big raise. Sorry. Companies are trying to contain costs, and they are still cutting back on salaries, training, and professional development programs. If you want to get back at your boss who is a total idiot, take naps in your car in the afternoon. If questioned about your absence, tell him you were called into a very important conference call that you took in a private office.
The Ugly
- Your lazy brother-in-law will not get a job. Not in 2010. Not in 2011. Not until you kick him off the couch. If he wanted to get a job, he would’ve found one in 2007. There is a difference between unemployment and pathologically lazy, and the best thing you can do is to stop giving him money. Those who are able should get back to work, and your brother-in-law is able. Trust me.
Boy, that’s a depressing set of predictions. Luckily, you are in charge of your own destiny and my predictions are probably worthless. Go out there, be successful, and find a great job. Please prove me wrong and help me to see the bright side of the employment landscape in 2010.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Laurie, I got a chuckle out of this and wanted to comment on each:
THE UGLY – oh Lord, “aint it the truth, aint it the truth” is all I have to say. I lived with a version of the “ugly” for years. The sad truth however is that typically “ugly” isn’t really lazy (oh if it were that simple)…he or she can be a well-meaning soul who has some sort of demon standing in the way – be it addiction, mental health issues etc. “Ugly” doesn’t have the ability to understand that you have to work hard to accomplish your goals. I thank my lucky stars for “ugly” every day, made me a stronger individual.
THE BAD – listen up peeps! Those of you who hate your boss, instead of sleeping in the car (sorry Laurie) position yourself for when the floodgates open up (and I believe they eventually will). Identify what brand “you” is, clean it up if necessary, start networking, and get up to date in your industry. Employers who treat their employees like crap are going to feel the pitch. Pay back is a BEEatch!
AND FINALLY THE GOOD – Fortunately for all of you who I may meet/see at future conferences etc. if (God forbid) I am still in transition, I will NOT be wearing yoga pants and will continue to use my wrinkle cream. I might still look like crap, but you’ll give me an “A” for effort.
Laurie- boo! -. The “productivity” everyone is bragging about is on the backs of very tired employees, and they cannot handle the load in the new year- employers are loosening the purse strings and hiring. Since August, people are landing every week, and the volume of all job openings are increasing not decreasing compared to the first half of the year, which was dead. If people are aggressive with 1) Building their unique strengths, 2) leveraging all the tools including social technology, 3) targeting companies so people are able to help them. (In this environment you need 50+ target companies, and 5-10 contacts that you have met in each one of these firms as a goal). 4) meeting within network groups 2-3 times a week (they are in every town at all levels) 5) having 1:1 face to face meetings 2 times a day. They will land a job in this environment- as most people are not doing all 5 of these things. In addition, in this environment all words from job seekers must be positive and productive. So ask yourself when you have negative or critical thoughts whether they are positive and productive to landing a job before they leave your lips- you never know how that affects your brand, your spirit, and how people perceive you. This recipe for finding a job is a difficult one- it does work- those doing it are finding jobs.
I was at a meeting of HR Directors here in London talking about the outlook for the coming year. Different country I know, but we were all overwhelmingly positive about employment prospects here.
Sure things are tough and we need to remain cost conscious and vigilant, but people are recruiting, people are hiring and we have seen nothing like the job losses we saw in the late 80s early 90s (believe me it was a grim time).
We reckon this recession is looking a little L shaped here. Things aren’t going to improve hugely, but they are flattening out, we are getting used to it and……its business as usual.
If your January sets the tone for how your next year will proceed, I am going to be cold and litigious. I have to go to Norway for the middle two weeks of the month. The sun does not rise in Norway in January. At all. You get four hours of twilight. Surreal and good for vampires, but not so much for this Georgia boy who thinks Kentucky gets too cold in January. Also, the national food of Norway is Lutefisk. Lutefisk is fish pickled in lye. You must rinse it for several days and change the water periodically between rinses before you can eat it. Because, well, lye is poison. Who cures their food in poison? It would never in a million years occur to me to throw some sashimi grade tuna in a bucket of arsenic thinking “I’ll just rinse it 9 or 10 times later and it will be yummy and will no longer kill me.” I don’t want to spend 14 airborne hours to eat lutefisk in the twilight.
I have court-ordered mediation with an employee who feels he was terminated for age-discrimination-related reasons the first week in January. The claimant believes he was fired for age-related reasons. He is 52. The employee he alleges we retained at his expense is 46. The other member of their department who was retained is 56. All of the other employees from their work area who were released were under 40. All of the other employees retained were 46 or older (and with different skills, hence NOT including them with the 46, 52 and 56-year-old referenced). Anyone else fail to see a discriminatory pattern there? This is one of the most asburd bits of employment litigation with which I’ve been involved (though I did once attend an unemployment hearing for an employee who claims she was laid off when, in fact she was fired for doing — as the manager who reported it to me at the time described it — “the hibbittyjibbitty” with two other employees in one of their cars during a 15-minute smoke break.)
I digress. I see hiring activity improving in 2010. Headhunters are calling me again. Our company is winning work that was put on hold or even thought to be canceled last year. Our clients produce raw materials, which suggests to me that manufacturers have worked through their excess inventories and/or demand is increasing. I see increased employment coupled with — unfortunately — wage deflation and a lot of contract hiring in the first 6-8 months. This won’t hurt that bad because the cost indexes have been and I think will remain somewhat flat for at least the first half of the year. I think you may start to see demand-based wage increases in the 2nd half of the year which is also whenI think you may start to see the first ugly signs of inflation.
LOL! Your brother in law sounds like my sister. Seriously though, I look at the “Ugly” like this. If you live life, from excuse to excuse of why you cant find work and do nothing to help yourself, you can do that shit on someone else’s couch….no time for that (even if its the bro-in-law). Trust me, I understand times are tough, but when I hear someone complain about not having a job, I ask them “what have you done this week to help your search?”. And if they’re serious about searching for work, I do everything I can to help.
I predict 2010 to be the year of the “Scrapper”. The guy/gal that was forced into an unfavorable situation in 2008/09 (forced to take lower level job, pay cut, unemployed) but fought, never gave up and ultimately made ends meet (and along the way picked up a blue collar edge). The true Scrappers will emerge in 2010 as those that view their misfortune in 2009 as a humanizing/humbling experience and an opportunity to gain perspective. In 2010 “Scrappers” will be stronger people than they were pre-recession.
In 2010 employers will see many of potential “Scrappers” available in the talent pool. I encourage interviewers to get to know what your candidates did to get through this shitty economic time, especially if they were displaced. Don’t scrutinize the fact they were bartending and working at the Gap for the past year, use it as a platform for more questions. Find out if your candidate is willing to have that type of dedication in a new role. Find out what they learned about themselves during that time.
For as much of the “Ugly” I have seen around, I remain optimistic as I’ve seen incredible resilience among others.
Stay Real,
rickro…OUT!
The Good: I am employed and doing better than ever and I will not feel guilty about it.
For those of you who are unemployed there are energy jobs all across the country.
Housing prices may actually fall to a realistic level.
Americans are resilient and tough, you will survive this and be better off for it! Relax drink a beer, consider that career change you always wanted, face the challenge and persevere.
The Bad: You need experience to get an energy job that pays more than unemployment. You will have to sell your over priced house for a loss and move to another part of the country.
Most of us will take a loss on our next home sale.
The Ugly: Market conditions and three kids in or going to college are keeping me from moving back to the west coast.
The majority of Americans still think their house is worth 250k, its not! A house is a small collection of warped 2x4s and some drywall at best its worth 50k if you paid more than that your an idiot just like me.
The Detroit area will never recover, crime, unions and over priced labor have doomed it as a wasteland forever.
Americans will learn nothing from this recession / depression and will repeat it again.
Pelosi and Reid will continue to ruin our economy in the name of fairness or equality.
@scottthekyhrguy,
Try sailing across the north seas in a crowded open boat with only lutefisk to eat. Now you know why the Vikings were so feared. After a trip like that even Mother Teresa or the Dalai Lama would be ready to kick some ass.
Whaddya mean yoga pants and hoodies are only for the unemployed?? I never received this memo!
2010 IS going to be better in 2009 because I will become an alcoholic if it isn’t, and I’m too old to age myself further through alcoholism. I will continue to use wrinkle cream and color my hair for the same reason.
This SUCKS to live through, but we also have the opportunity to learn and do better. Everyone won’t, but I will. And I’m storming around my company demanding that we start removing the punitive nature of survival mode and turn it around to opportunity mode. We have the opportunity to overturn the same ol’ same ol’ way of doing business and how we handle staffing.
And if they continue to drag their feet and keep trying to apply what worked 15 years ago, I’ll find another employer who wants to be more innovative.
And if nobody wants to hire me, then I’ll move to Vegas, get a job in a gift shop, wear sequined sneakers, drink boxed wine by the pool, and call everybody honey. (Okay, so that’s really my age 65 plan, but I’m pretty much ready to start that plan now.)
I had always heard the rage was based on some combination of poision mushrooms, a fungus that was the chemical precursor to LSD and unrestrained Syphyllus. The fish and the stinky boat ride were actually the “perks” of the job. Or maybe it was the Syphyllus. Either way, if I have lived in Norway prior to the invention of the lightbulb or Central HVAC systems, I think I would have been a conquering son of a gun myself.
Your pessimistic, and/or, realistic way of looking at employment-related issues is almost dead-on. I mean– who WOULDN’T want to lay around the house in a hoody and sweat pants (with 3 weeks of Doritos stains and fried chicken grease on them—) and playing XBox Live (gotta keep that player rating up!) for 12 hour stretches! Y’know– those nasty terrorists don’t kill themselves— …. no wait… maybe they do?
I agree with you— the economy will get better– but companies as a whole are gonna be a little gun-shy about expansion and new hires. The work coming through now is NOTHING like the large projects I’ve experienced over a year ago. And companies have a “take-it-or-leave-it” mentality when it comes to lowering compensation. Is some of this fabricated so the company can make more profit? Hell yeah it is!! Any good capitalist worth thier salt willl screw you to the wall to keep his/her yacht in dock. That’s the American way!!!
I think 2010 will be more of the same for me. We are always hiring, because we are always firing!
Many companies have used this recession to cut more deeply than they actually need to – the result is their stock price pops up because they’re more profitable.
In 2010 I’ll be more entrepreneurial and focused on making income happen. And, to me, the New Year starts today.
Dude, you made me choke on my Fanta! However, I think you have your order reversed. It’s good that your unemployed family member is on the couch. That’s who shovels the snow, mows the lawn and does the dishes. Their lazy, but they’ll do a couple of things to avoid a 40 hour commitment. That’s win/win.
Hating your job and boss, that’s the norm, so I sense we are returning to normalcy, having a boss (good, bad or otherwise) is what to many people miss.
Unemployed our not we’ve got to look good, and have to dress well. Now that we’ve lost most of our manufacturing jobs, we are no an economy, no a society, based on the Gap. It is our soylent green, and we must continue to consume it.
I think there will be more hiring in 2010, but coming behind the curve will be improvements for employees. It’s going to take a couple of years for companies to re-set their mindset that you need them and not the other way around.
Hiring might be up but it doesn’t help the average Joe… companies are still cherry picking from the hordes of unemployed. Like Puf said, it’s going to take a couple of years for companies to understand they need us, rather than we need them.
@Deborah Your comments crack me up. Thank you.
@Debbie You are right. Negativity is subconscious, but sometimes it can be a powerful tool.
@TheHRD So official. Thanks!
@Scott That is one depressing and sad comment. Also awesome. Yuck, lye fish. Thanks.
@Rickro The brother-in-law is a symbol. I have my own sister, thanks. Also, you’re right. Scrappers get shit done.
@John The Detroit area will never recover, crime, unions and over priced labor have doomed it as a wasteland forever. Man, that is sad. Pelosi and Reid will continue to ruin our economy in the name of fairness or equality. Come on. No blame for Boehner and McConnell? Give me a break.
@Salescomp Mother Teresa — a little & tough beeyotch without the lye fish.
@h.aria Holy cow, I want to join you in Vegas. My skin is still good (enough) in dim light to pass for being somewhat youthful.
@MattyMat I would work harder but I’m like 5 minutes from a place called Bojangles that makes the best drive-thru, scratch-made biscuits in the area. I’m not going to give up this life to take a real job.
@Kirsten The cycle of mediocrity! Yeah!
@Marsha Wow, you are inspiring. My new year starts after my birthday on January 8th. Come January 9th, I’ll regain focus.
@Puf I’m not giving up my Gap stretch yoga pants or my Old Navy arctic hoodie. No way. You’ll have to pry them from my cold, dead hands.
@DavidT Will they ever understand that they need us? I’m not sure.
I’m troubled that none of the numerous restructuring efforts I’ve been witness to would be viewed as successful in the goal of restructuring. It is always a response and always hurried. The “beer truck employees” (the unsung ees that perform a crucial function, without adequate backup, that if hit by a beer truck would cause your organization to slowly collapse from catastrophic process failure. you know who you are.) are always impacted because management hasn’t really audited anything before earmarking that 15%.
I know there are HR professionals who do this correctly in partnership with their management teams, but that is the exception. In the vast number of cases, the cuts reduce costs, increase short term stock price, but reduce functionality and employee engagement. The costs go back up when the company has to cover the functionality losses by adding heads or technology. By then, additional beer truck employees have left due to workload and poor fulfillment. Sucksville! But… management did what was expected (what the polls indicated). Few companies are able to stay lean in a smart way and avoid this rollercoaster.
I do thing the jobs will come bounce back in 2010 because companies will backfill their beer truck folks. However, there will be another bounce in 8-12 months because many will just land someplace as a bridge until they move on again.
Dude was that an intentional Charlton Heston recall in your reply to me? Because that is awesome!!!! I love it, that made my day!
@RyanW Loved your thoughtful comment but the one thing I’m taking away from it is SUCKSVILLE. As in, “Destination: Sucksville. Population: you.” Awesome.
@Puf Yes, for your birthday, one good reference deserves another!
M-m-m-m-m-m-m….. scratch made biscuits…… arghu-rhghr-ghrrgr……
H Aria & Laurie,
I’m up for that Vegas gig myself! I met a gift shop lady when I was hanging out in New Orleans (during the SHRM conference) who fits that description (minus the wine – though I didn’t check behind the register) and she gave me her life story, was ill, couldn’t drive anymore so she moved from CA. to New Orleans, lives down the street and walks to work every day and loves her life. I think she even called me “honey”. LOVED HER!! I told her I was glad I waited till my last day to buy my souveneir t’s.
@Laurie RE;
Pelosi & Reid No it was my internet response no equality, facts or supporting documentation needed. ;o)
Detroit; Sad but true, it will take decades.
@MattyMat Exactly.
@Deborah From SHRM member to casino gift shop lady. Awesome.
@JohnC Always an optimist, yes.