Are any jobs safe in this recession and should we care?

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According to the following NYT article, no jobs are safe from the grip of this recession. The reasons for that are somewhat obvious, since this is the worst recession since the Great Depression, but there are some who never dreamed that they would be part of the laid off masses. They aren’t prepared for the traumatic effects of job loss and they thought that they would never be standing in the unemployment line with the “normal” job casualties.

Big national law firms are letting partners go. Following them out the door are senior associates who were on the partner track. The same is true for tenured teachers and professors, high-ranking accountants at top-tier firms and white-collar corporate managers.

''Imagine along your career, you never were thinking about the possibility of being laid off. You might not have a financial cushion on place. You haven't spent time networking. You haven't kept up your skills,'' said Peter Cappelli, a professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.

''It is a worse situation than for folks in jobs who had some expectation that their jobs weren't safe,'' he said.

Yes, there are many who thought they had a secure job, that are now on the unemployment line, but to say that they are in worse shape than those who had an expectation of getting laid off is ludicrous!

The tenured professor or teacher has likely had the luxury of a high salary, which should have led to substantial savings, while the person who may expect to get laid off is not likely as skilled and certainly wouldn’t have the opportunity to earn and save money like a tenured teacher or potential law partner. The ivory towers of academia and the downtown corner offices of the law partner are finally facing a reality that happens to millions of others who don’t have to financial cushion afforded those tenured elites.

Continuing:

More than 6.9 million jobs have been cut in the United States during the recession, and there is a good chance many won't come back as soon as economic growth picks up again, or possibly ever.

For instance, 1,004 teaching jobs in Detroit have been cut, and 397 were tenured positions, which typically means they have seniority and are covered under strict termination and due process requirements….

It's easy to get complacent with your skills when you work at the same place for a long time. A job loss forces you to break out of the comfort zone……

Sam Pollack was laid off from the law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in August 2008 as the financial crisis began to intensify. The 32-year-old had worked on deals involving mortgage-backed securities, a market that completely froze as demand for such assets evaporated amid the downturn in real estate.

''If you work hard, go to good schools, you believe you will be in a good place,'' Pollack said. ''I knew my layoff wasn't due to my personal performance, but it still hasn't been easy.''

To make himself marketable to new employers, Pollack is trying to sharpen his skills. He has taken continuing education courses in areas of the law where he isn't as knowledgeable, such as bankruptcy, and he's making sure he's up to date on new securities rules and regulations. He also is networking ''like crazy,'' hoping that will land him an in-house legal job at a company.

Now think of the person who worked in the steel mill, the manufacturing facility or the textile shop who was laid off after a lengthy employment, don’t you think it’s hard for them as well? They may have, too, worked hard and gone to all the right schools, but they are likely in much worse shape than the teacher or lawyer, because they can’t go to a new steel or textile mill, which are closing for good due to off-shoring. And they probably don’t have the financial resources to spend the years necessary to learn a new trade, as the teacher and lawyer are able to do.

DON'T BE TOO PROUD

You got to a comfortable place in your career by working hard. Unfortunately, you'll have to do it all over again.

That means being flexible in your job search. It's OK to accept positions below your previous title if it gets you into the door. Then you can prove yourself a valuable asset to your new employer, said Mickey Matthews, vice president for North America at the executive recruiting firm Stanton Chase International.

For instance, if you worked at a big firm, don't look down your nose at a boutique firm that is offering you a position as partner. Same goes for someone who was a vice president of a company but now can only get a job with a director title.

''You have to get over the embarrassment factor,'' Matthews said. ''You can't take a job loss personally today.''

No Job Is Safe in Today's Tough Labor Market

It amazing to me that while the once job-secure crowd worries about job loss embarrassment, the laid off hourly work-world worries about putting food on the table and paying the utility bill. Do I sense a disconnect?

While there is little benefit to anyone getting laid off, I do see a small sliver of a silver lining; maybe the ivory tower and high-rise corner office crowd that have for so long looked down on the regular Joe or Jane in the trenches of the mill, factory, or warehouse, will have a greater respect and even some admiration for those who struggle through life one job at a time and paycheck to paycheck. At least I can hope that’s the case……………

If you are looking to sharpen your skills, take a look at all the resources available in the Tools and Services section of AllPinkSlips.