Say Goodbye to One Good Job ...
by Natalie Pompilio
DECEMBER 30, 2009 TAGS:
And, if you’re lucky, hello to many small ones.
There was a time, a long, long time ago – say, 2007 or even 2008 – when the American ideal of employment still held: full-time work, salaried or hourly, with health care and pensions and long-term stability. These jobs required leaving the house, dressing nicely, and they generally wrapped up after 8 -10 hour shifts. There were planned days off each week, most holidays free and a sameness about supervisors that helped strangers relate to each other, whether they worked in banks or retail stores, on Wall Street or Main Street.
But as 2010 dawns, it seems those halcyon days of yore are over. We are mourning the death of the manufacturing economy that has prospered here since World War II and brought this country an unmatched standard of living. We are moving into less certain times, where the number of self-employed freelancers or part-time workers is increasing and, with it, the instability that can accompany those lifestyles.
“It’s hard to let go. That’s the problem,” said economist Paul Gardner, director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University. “We have to realize that the manufacturing economy has passed away. It’s gone, and the components aren’t going to be the same in this new economy for most people. We’re going to have to adjust our standards of living and expectations.”
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, independent workers now make up one-third of the nation’s workforce. Time magazine says that number will increase to 40 percent in the next decade. The Freelancers Union, a national organization that offers products like insurance, retirement, and political advocacy to its membership of independent workers, has grown by 40 percent --- to 130,000 members -- in the last year.
How rare is news of that traditional job? Earlier this month, North Carolina’s News & Observer of Raleigh ran a story with the headline, “There are some jobs; here’s how to get one,” detailing how employers in the state’s Triangle region were actually hiring full-time workers with benefits. The news was so amazing it was picked up by the Associated Press and went national.
And when the Collegiate Employment Research Institute released a recent report on the bleak employment scene awaiting new grads --- 40 percent fewer job prospects, lower starting pay and more expensive benefits – it advised freelance and temp work as short-term solutions: “Independent contractors often lament the lack of benefits but for young single people, it's just not that important. You can buy your own health insurance for a few hundred dollars a month,” it said.
Another bit of advice from CERI? “Recognize that the job you work in [in] the crappiest job market in a long, long time might not have a lot to do with your long-term career. If all you can get is an unpaid internship in the field of your choice and find yourself working six nights a week at WalMart to make ends meet, that won't kill you.”
For employers, there’s something sexy – read: cheap – about using freelancers and part-time workers.
“It’s normal in a downturn. This downturn being more severe, the pressures are more severe,” said Temple University economics Professor Michael Leeds. “It’s not something that’s in their long-term interests, but it is something that in extreme circumstances they’re forced to do.”
And although things will improve as the economy picks up, Leeds still thinks the traditional American ideal of employment is in trouble. He paraphrased a former Philadelphia mayor who compared the struggling city to a patient that had both serious cancer and a gunshot wound to the chest. The current crisis, Leeds said, is the bullet wound. It will heal somewhat. But the cancer is a long-term worry that threatens the patient’s life, as issues like rising health care costs threaten full-time jobs.
“Certain jobs disappear during a depression. There’s consolidation and certain industries go away,” Leeds said. “There’s also a certain amount of creative destruction. A recession is like a brush fire that clears away dead or dying vegetation and allows for the growth of newer and more vital vegetation…. To a degree, it’s wait-and-see.”
Indeed, a post-recession economy offers opportunities for people who understand what is going on, said Michigan State’s Gardner.
“Those people are going to find some incredible opportunities and find their place and fit faster than it happened for their parents,” he said. “I see people starting their own non-profits. You never see that in a manufacturing economy.”
After John Henion and a co-worker were laid off last year, they started the blog www.unemploymentality.com. Henion, an Oakland, Ca.-based video producer, said the site (which makes him no money) was meant to find the humor in being un- or under-employed. Instead he found it has attracted an audience that is more spiteful and angry than he ever was about losing his job.
“A lot of people have this mentality that there’s one way to work. No one’s trying to be a freelancer,” he said. “Many of the people in our audience who are laid off are shaking a little bit, wondering where the next standard job is coming along.”
His website includes links to CNN profiles of the unemployed and uninsured and essays like, “Hey, it’s OK if You’re Unemployed!” The latter included a list of 10 things to be OK about, including hating your former employer or, alternatively, idolizing the company much as one would an ex-lover.
Some of the site-goers who read the post were able to vent in the comments section: “I despise my former employer too. I keep hoping the office buildings get ripped apart by a tornado.” and “I despise the MEA (teacher union) for using seniority instead of competence as the sole criteria when determining who gets laid off and who stays to teach your children.”
Henion had freelanced before finding full-time work, so the switch wasn’t as devastating for him. It took about six months for him to build a steady client base, but he now makes a living comparable to his former salary. He has domestic partner benefits through his girlfriend.
“I think most people accidentally become a freelancer. You get laid off. Maybe we’ll all become freelancers and we won’t know it happened. We’ll wake up one day and find ourselves self-employed.”
There was a time, a long, long time ago – say, 2007 or even 2008 – when the American ideal of employment still held: full-time work, salaried or hourly, with health care and pensions and long-term stability. These jobs required leaving the house, dressing nicely, and they generally wrapped up after 8 -10 hour shifts. There were planned days off each week, most holidays free and a sameness about supervisors that helped strangers relate to each other, whether they worked in banks or retail stores, on Wall Street or Main Street.
But as 2010 dawns, it seems those halcyon days of yore are over. We are mourning the death of the manufacturing economy that has prospered here since World War II and brought this country an unmatched standard of living. We are moving into less certain times, where the number of self-employed freelancers or part-time workers is increasing and, with it, the instability that can accompany those lifestyles. “It’s hard to let go. That’s the problem,” said economist Paul Gardner, director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University. “We have to realize that the manufacturing economy has passed away. It’s gone, and the components aren’t going to be the same in this new economy for most people. We’re going to have to adjust our standards of living and expectations.”
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, independent workers now make up one-third of the nation’s workforce. Time magazine says that number will increase to 40 percent in the next decade. The Freelancers Union, a national organization that offers products like insurance, retirement, and political advocacy to its membership of independent workers, has grown by 40 percent --- to 130,000 members -- in the last year.
How rare is news of that traditional job? Earlier this month, North Carolina’s News & Observer of Raleigh ran a story with the headline, “There are some jobs; here’s how to get one,” detailing how employers in the state’s Triangle region were actually hiring full-time workers with benefits. The news was so amazing it was picked up by the Associated Press and went national.
And when the Collegiate Employment Research Institute released a recent report on the bleak employment scene awaiting new grads --- 40 percent fewer job prospects, lower starting pay and more expensive benefits – it advised freelance and temp work as short-term solutions: “Independent contractors often lament the lack of benefits but for young single people, it's just not that important. You can buy your own health insurance for a few hundred dollars a month,” it said.
Another bit of advice from CERI? “Recognize that the job you work in [in] the crappiest job market in a long, long time might not have a lot to do with your long-term career. If all you can get is an unpaid internship in the field of your choice and find yourself working six nights a week at WalMart to make ends meet, that won't kill you.” For employers, there’s something sexy – read: cheap – about using freelancers and part-time workers.
“It’s normal in a downturn. This downturn being more severe, the pressures are more severe,” said Temple University economics Professor Michael Leeds. “It’s not something that’s in their long-term interests, but it is something that in extreme circumstances they’re forced to do.”
And although things will improve as the economy picks up, Leeds still thinks the traditional American ideal of employment is in trouble. He paraphrased a former Philadelphia mayor who compared the struggling city to a patient that had both serious cancer and a gunshot wound to the chest. The current crisis, Leeds said, is the bullet wound. It will heal somewhat. But the cancer is a long-term worry that threatens the patient’s life, as issues like rising health care costs threaten full-time jobs.
“Certain jobs disappear during a depression. There’s consolidation and certain industries go away,” Leeds said. “There’s also a certain amount of creative destruction. A recession is like a brush fire that clears away dead or dying vegetation and allows for the growth of newer and more vital vegetation…. To a degree, it’s wait-and-see.”
Indeed, a post-recession economy offers opportunities for people who understand what is going on, said Michigan State’s Gardner.
“Those people are going to find some incredible opportunities and find their place and fit faster than it happened for their parents,” he said. “I see people starting their own non-profits. You never see that in a manufacturing economy.”
After John Henion and a co-worker were laid off last year, they started the blog www.unemploymentality.com. Henion, an Oakland, Ca.-based video producer, said the site (which makes him no money) was meant to find the humor in being un- or under-employed. Instead he found it has attracted an audience that is more spiteful and angry than he ever was about losing his job.
“A lot of people have this mentality that there’s one way to work. No one’s trying to be a freelancer,” he said. “Many of the people in our audience who are laid off are shaking a little bit, wondering where the next standard job is coming along.”
His website includes links to CNN profiles of the unemployed and uninsured and essays like, “Hey, it’s OK if You’re Unemployed!” The latter included a list of 10 things to be OK about, including hating your former employer or, alternatively, idolizing the company much as one would an ex-lover.
Some of the site-goers who read the post were able to vent in the comments section: “I despise my former employer too. I keep hoping the office buildings get ripped apart by a tornado.” and “I despise the MEA (teacher union) for using seniority instead of competence as the sole criteria when determining who gets laid off and who stays to teach your children.”Henion had freelanced before finding full-time work, so the switch wasn’t as devastating for him. It took about six months for him to build a steady client base, but he now makes a living comparable to his former salary. He has domestic partner benefits through his girlfriend.
“I think most people accidentally become a freelancer. You get laid off. Maybe we’ll all become freelancers and we won’t know it happened. We’ll wake up one day and find ourselves self-employed.”
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sandra dunning wrote on January 4, 2010 6:20pm
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