Dec 05 2008
Protecting yourself from Job Losses
Today news came out that the US economy lost a collosal 533,000 jobs in November - taking the jobless rate to a 15-year high. People currently in jobs shivered and probably wondered if it was about to happen to them.
How do you protect yourself from job losses? There are certain sectors that are particularly vulnerable right now - banking and finance, construction, and real estate. It also looks like the retail sector might shrink as shoppers stop buying. If you are in any of these sectors, then start taking precautions now. Start saving like crazy. Having ready cash is more important than paying debt, so the first thing to do is to ensure you save at least six months salary. If you’ve maxed out on your credit card, start clearing the debt - you want to have some room to borrow in case you lose your job and run out of cash, and you won’t be able to do that if you are at your limit. See this previous post on how to clear your credit card debt.
Also polish up your C.V. and consider whether it might be sensible to change job to somewhere safer. Working for the government is a safe option. The medical sector is another recession proof area and they have jobs at all level from porters and administrators to doctors and nurses.
If you can’t change jobs, make sure you do the best job in the role you are now. In previous recessions companies made people redundant by lottery. What now tends to happen is they ask all existing employees to reapply for their jobs - this way they get to keep the best staff and get rid of the dead weight. Make sure you are not dead weight. Turn up on time, don’t take sickies, try to deliver all your company objectives - and make sure you turn up to all company social events (even if it is the late night pizza after work) to make sure your face is known. It’s a sad fact but true that the people who survive are those the management know and like, while those who are invisible get the chop no matter how good they are at their jobs.
