Today there is another great post on the Escape from Cubicle Nation site. In light of the recent Intel layoffs, this post gives some sound advice on how to “shore up” your finances and get together a “back-up” plan for your career so you are not entirely dependent on the one job you have now – which if you are in the software industry you will most likely lose within the next 1 to 3 years. I have three concerns, however, that this article does not address.
Hubby and I have actually followed most of the advice in this article over the course of our unstable careers in the software industry. I believe that having a savings account with 6 months minimum living expenses in it at all times and doing lots of networking in the software community are the two best things we’ve done to mitigate the effects of sudden job loss and quickly transition to contract work or new jobs.
However, building up a buffer of living expenses, pursuing other paths of income through contracting, attending networking functions, and adding different skills to your repetoire all take time in addition to our 50+ hour work weeks (and I’m being kind here on the hours – lots of people I know put in 60-70 hour weeks). My concern is that job loss in this industry is so widespread and accepted, that workers are sinking into an unhealthy job-loss paranoia. This leads to constantly working multiple jobs, squirreling away money, and not taking time to care for one’s health and relationships. (Obesity is up, divorce is up – gee, I wonder why?) Additionally, you become afraid to spend even a little money on a reasonable vacation, car maintenence, or home improvemnets. Hubby and I went through a phase of complete job-loss paranoia. We worked constantly and spent little. It was beyond preparation or ‘being responsible.’ It was paranoid and miserable. It didn’t lead to a new career or business; it lead to exhaustion and depression. We didn’t enjoy even a fresh slice of the fruits of our labors. My advice is be prepared and financially responsible, but make sure you play too. Maybe cut out an expense that you don’t use much and don’t take that third contract. You’ll have the same amount of money and a little more time to sleep, hike, and visit Grandma.
My second concern is the psychological damage that layoffs cause. You can say it is just business. You can say you saw it coming. You can already have cleared your desk 2 weeks ago in preparation. You may be just fine if you can’t find another job for 6 months. This may be THE opportunity to get your own business on its feet. I’ve been in this position, where losing my job was ‘no big’ in the great scheme of things. Still, if you are a person who works hard and invests a bit of passion or even a little ‘caring’ into a product, company, or team – every job dismissal is emotionally painful. You still can’t help but feel scared of the unknown future, self-questioning (why me? how did I get to the top of the lay-off list?), angry (but all my reviews were 5 star reviews! I had no notice!), and sad (but I loved working with Kenneth, I’m really going to miss him). You are finanically prepared, you have other skills you can fall back on, you just finished your certification, but you may still be really really depressed. The only advice I have is – it really isn’t you, it is Corporate America. Something is truly going wrong in this country when it comes to employing the American worker. The best way to immediately feel better is to grab your craziest relative and go on a vacation (see previous posts). That vacation may just be crashing on their couch for a week – but believe me – the adventures you can have on a crazy relative’s couch are numerous, unexpected, and refreshing (even if you break the couch, which Uncle E, Aunt S, Mom and I did once – during an especially depressing time that inspired the invention of ‘Couch Basketball.’ There is nothing a little duct tape won’t fix). Once you get back from your vacation start thinking about not just how you can get another job, but how you can change this completely shitty job-situation the American worker-bee is stuck in. Stop shopping at big corporations and support your small, local businesses. Vow to stop working more than 40 hours a week for a corporation that will lay you off based on some esoteric thing that has nothing to do with actual performance. Instead spend that extra 10 hours a week cultivating your own business or a new skill. Get a non-work related hobby – learn to play the banjo (believe me, you can’t play the banjo and still feel sad, even if you are a really really bad banjo player). Exercise 30 minutes a day. Walk your dog and do NOT for any deadline set by any company skip your kid’s band concert! You will have more personal satisfaction, be healthier, and be more entertaining at parties. Your dog will stop chewing up the couch cushions and your kid will grow up a little better adjusted because her parents were actually able to hear her one and only amazing performance of the oboe solo in Samson and Delilah (oops…I think I got a little too specific there…but really it was just an example I pulled out of thin air…really…)
My final concern is about how people do when they get another job. I’m currently working in a company of refugees. You could call them ‘sudden job-loss experts,’ but really we are more like refugees. We joke about it and try to be aware of our behavior in light of it, but I see this “refugee syndrome” becoming more widespread across many companies where it is not discussed openly or addressed. One reaction I see in many software company refugees is to become very afraid they’ll lose their jobs again. Therefore, they aim to ‘fly under the radar.’ They say yes to every managerial request – whether it is possible to fulfill or not. They don’t ask questions. They do not innovate or initiate. They will not stick their necks out for their reports or peers. They will get the job done just enough to not get fired, but they aren’t moving the company forward, they aren’t moving themselves forward, and they aren’t having any fun (and frankly, it ain’t no fun to work with them either). Things that used to be the hallmark of an outstanding employee are now viewed as risks that raise your name to the top of the ‘lay-off’ list. In a way, the software industry is creating a body of employees who are not good employees because of the way they’ve been treated by the software industry. This in turn is going to make the software industry less stable, less productive, and less competitive in the world market. On the flip side, there are a few people, like me, who have gone the other way. I’m pretty much poised to tell anyone to f*** off, becasue I’m just not going to take one extra drop of shit if there isn’t something in it for me right now (not a dangling carrot, but a real thing that you can give me right now to make me put up with you). With this attitude, the current estimate of me retaining my new job through the end of this year – I’d say is ummm…37% success. How do we, the workers, solve this (because I sure don’t see the corporate executives doing anything other than mouthing those same old words “It’s just business.”)? First of all, I think we need to check ourselves and make sure we are still enjoying that 40+ hours a week enough to warrant the pain of the job. Like my orthopedic doctor says “Let the pain be your guide.” Living in fear 40 hours a week to just get a paycheck that you squirrel away to cover your next layoff – it just isn’t utilizing this great gift of being healthy, alive, and in a country where we are free to pursue pretty-much (within the basic rules of humanity) whatever interests we have. Even without our fancy software jobs, we are still wealthier than a huge percentage of the rest of the world – so maybe having to share one bathroom, not having a TiVo in every room, not eating out 3 times a week at good restaurants, not having a different pair of cute shoes for each exercise machine at the gym, not having a brand-new gas-guzzling SUV for each member of the family – maybe these things are worth sacrificing for better health, better sex, intelligent kids, relaxed dogs, beautiful gardens, healthy home-cooked meals, and some majorly blazing licks on the banjo!
This is what I believe and what I *theoretically* aim to practice. I haven’t been able to achieve consistent practice of my own advice, but I’m going to strive to do it – in honor of the Intel refugees.