Everyone from Barack Obama to Mitt Romney to people advertisements during the Super Bowl to your
mother to your neighbor are talking about the economy and looming recession. Sub-prime mortgages have definitely thrown a wrench into the economy. Anytime billions of dollars are written off by corporations, it is going to wreck havoc in other areas.
Everyday, my clients and candidates searching for jobs ask me, "Tom, how's the job market? It's gotta be a good time to find people with downsizing going on...right?" People ask these questions as if all of the downsizing is occurring for the positions they have open. It's absolutely crazy. It has to be a great time to find an accountant, right? As if that is what Merrill Lynch, Citibank and Bear Stearns did...they laid off all of their accountants in Chicago! Absurd! And if they did, would they let go of their best ones?
First of all, we're not in a recession...yet. There is an economic definition of a recession: "x" amounts of negative growth with unemployment, yada yada yada...and there is the actual feelings of the people in the country. People who lose their jobs feel the economy is bad. It can be the best economy in the world and if your company goes out of business, then the economy isn't treating you real well. You can have the worst economy in the world, yet if your company is doing well and growing, then the business is great. Last quarter Exxon Mobile had the largest quarterly profit in the history of the United States...don't tell the oil industry that the economy is doing poorly.
Oh my goodness, the housing market stinks! That must mean the economy is in the toilet. Are you tying to sell your house? I had a friend tell me he can't believe how many houses in his neighborhood are on the market and not selling. I asked, "Are you planning on selling your house?" He said "no." I asked him why he was worrying then. The simple fact is, if you need to sell your house because you are relocating, then you are a legitimate victim of a poor housing market. Most people are not in that category. If you need to sell your house because you cannot afford your mortgage...you created the dilemma you are in. In fact, to blame the economy because you can't afford your mortgage payment if like not voting in an election and then being mad about who is elected. You did this.
What you can do is control what you can control. That is your earning potential, your career stability and how much you spend. Stop buying Starbucks for $3.25 everyday, start making your lunch rather than buying it and focus on doing your job better than ever so you have more job security and you earn a raise, a bonus. And when the recession does come, you will have job security because your company would be foolish to let you go!
Thanks to Strategic Sourceror for picking up on my quotes in BusinessWeek about why it helps to hire during a recession rather than fire. They've got a good post up about recession-proofing your business...so check it out!
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