Dead-ends jobs are the status quo

Government figures show that workers today are much less willing to quit a job without having another job lined up than they have been since surveys began in the 1960s. Many workers would like to find new jobs but are afraid to make a move until the labor market improves.

At a minimum, a person employed in any capacity still gets paychecks and can still make it over the rough spots with emergency money from payday cash advances. At the end of the day, however, qualifying for payday cash isn’t enough to make a job satisfying.

All is not well in the workplace

An American Express survey reveals that 54 percent of employed workers are willing to accept demotions and pay cuts in order to keep their current jobs. This finding is consistent with the results of a detailed global workforce study conducted by employment consultant Towers Watson.

For now, security trumps everything

Towers Watson found that the “desire for security trumps everything,” with 86 percent of workers valuing job security, more than the number of workers who valued improved pay or career advancement. Towers Watson also found that job mobility is at a decade-long low point and that confidence in management is “disturbingly low.”  Forty-three percent of employed workers want to advance their careers by leaving their current employers, but only 12 percent are looking for new jobs.  It’s safe to assume that many workers who would be willing to start businesses of their own are also reluctant to make a change right now.

Lack of mobility depresses wages

According to CNNMoney.com economists say that a lack of job mobility can depress wages and thwart economic recovery. Changing jobs allows workers to increase their incomes, which in turn increases their spending power. When unemployment rates are low, people leave jobs more freely and employers pay higher wages to retain or find the best workers. Under favorable economic conditions, even the threat of leaving a job can result in increased pay. But for now, workers are keeping tight reins on their jobs and staying put, regardless of whether they like their work or feel they’re fairly compensated.

A new survey done by the Conference Board showed that job satisfaction is at an all-time low of about 45%. That is the total amount of employees who are content with their current situations. Part of the problem is the economy. When the recession began back in 2008, companies cut workers. That loss of a workforce caused existing workers to have to pick up the slack. They were called upon to take on bigger responsibilities, bigger projects, more worry, but without any more pay. The added strain brought workers to a new place of unease when comes to their jobs.

The history of job satisfaction

Job satisfaction has been declining for some time now. In fact, since 1987, the trend to be unsatisfied with employment has risen consistently. Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board, said, “What we have seen over the last 22 years is that irrespective of whether the economy is boom or bust, the overall level of satisfaction expressed by US workers has been steadily declining across every single aspect of the job.” Those aspects include pay, benefits, job security, promotional possibilities, bonuses, workloads, communication, and future growth.

A major contributor to the feeling of displeasure is the feeling that workers cannot get ahead. Financially, it has become increasingly difficult for people to overcome high expenses. According to the 2009 Kaiser Family Foundation report, the average worker contributes $779 for single workers and $3,515 for family coverage. The prices of food, shelter and household items has also increased. In contrast, pay has stayed the same. Franco said, “The shifting of health-care costs from employer to employee and the fact that wages have not been growing all that rapidly means purchasing power is diminished.”

People respond by taking higher-paying jobs

To make it through the difficult economy, many workers are taking higher-paying jobs that are less rewarding. Robert Frank, author of “Falling Behind: How Rising Inequality Harms the Middle Class”, said, “If people are feeling more economic pressure, they are more willing to sacrifice other dimensions of job satisfaction in order to get more money.” It has long been a standard goal of Americans to earn as much money as possible, but to still maintain job satisfaction. Studies are showing that as the economy struggles, more people are willing to forgo satisfaction for the sake of making ends meet.

Satisfaction denied means lag in productivity

Some experts suggest that discontent is a very difficult result of taking any job. Although people believe that money is a panacea, studies have shown that it isn’t. In fact, once you have a pool of people doing jobs that they don’t necessarily like, it creates a team of people who are much less productive. Ideally, employers should be looking for workers who are engaged in their jobs and the business. Without that connection, jobs suffer. Adam Grant, a management professor of at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, said, “There has to be a connection to a real outcome for the end users – clients, customers, patients, etc. As the world globalizes and companies begin to do more outsourcing and more international work, they are using more 24-hour communication and technology to make it easier to get jobs done without a face-to-face connection with the people benefiting from the work you do.” That can seriously cut back the amount of job satisfaction workers experience.

Overall it is a good market to find a job

Overall, it is a good market to find a job in, but at what price? The economy is showing signs of a turnaround and most likely will return to its healthy state by mid-2010. That change should encourage people at their jobs to look forward to a time when their employers can return to old practices. The workers will be in line for their standard annual raises, 401k contributions will resume and benefits will no longer be on hold.

She's found that silver lining amidst the dark clouds of the recession. It's a matter of effort and perspective. (Photo: picasaweb.google.com)

Millions of people around the world have fallen victim to the current recession. Business houses with international reputations have filed for bankruptcy and employees who were confident of their job security have been dismissed. While the experience of unemployment is common, the reactions of the unemployed vary widely. Unfortunately, many people allow their worlds to collapse around them once the job they have worked at for years has disappeared, and they add mental anguish to the financial sufferings that usually come with job loss. However, there are also those who lose their job and are able to take advantage of these unfortunate circumstances to make a new start in life. As with many other things in life, a great deal depends on whether you choose to view changes in circumstances as a personal disaster or a source of motivation. A search on Google for “starting a new business” turns up an incredible 70,000,000 hits, which surely indicates that despite the downturn, there is a healthy interest in new business opportunities.

Redundancy Can Lead to Something Much Better

Although the vast majority of people are upset when they are made redundant – unless they receive a generous early retirement package – some workers find a silver lining in the dark cloud of job loss. Redundancy sometimes furnishes an opportunity to make a welcome break with a “dead end” job and start enjoying life. For instance, employees who lost their positions working for large companies have found this event gave them the motivation to go ahead and set up their own businesses, and they have succeeded beyond expectations. Instead of having to fit into the schedule of somebody else’s business and being paid a fixed wage, they now find they can manage their own time and they feel their quality of life has consequently improved and their financial status advanced. Rather than allow the economic recession to wreck their lives they take advantage of it to realize their dreams. In some cases, unemployed people have also been able to transform a former hobby into a source of livelihood, or they have taken their professional skills and applied them in new fields such as teaching or consultancy. For example, www.gaebler.com describes how an applications consultant for a small software company took advantage of his redundancy to open his open business training other people to become consultants.

Environmental Side Benefits from Industrial Decline

Just as the recession has brought unforeseen benefits to some of the individuals affected, its impact on the life of nations has also revealed a positive side. A good example of how recession has led to an improvement in life quality comes from the North of England. This area is famous as the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, and it has suffered severely from a loss of jobs in traditional industries like textiles and coal mining over the last forty years. At the same time, the decline of industrial activity has been responsible for a dramatic improvement in the quality of the environment. The industrial sources of water and air pollution have been so dramatically reduced that fish have returned to rivers that have been biologically dead for over 150 years, and respiratory diseases have been much reduced by the cut in factory smoke emissions. The river Irwell in England is a classic example of a dead river that has returned to life as the polluting factories along its banks closed down. The people may now be poorer, but at the same time their environment is so much healthier.