No one will argue that the job market of the last 18 months has been a beast. Unemployment peaked at 10.6% in January and has hovered around the 10% level since. Some 15 million Americans find themselves without jobs. Companies have started rehiring, but oh so slowly, as they have consistently wrung higher productivity out of the existing workforce. Many heads have rolled since the recession began and they are just not being replenished quickly. Ugly, ugly beast.
But I believe that this beast has a sort of inner beauty. A redeeming quality that makes it just a little less beastly.
The beauty lies in discovering the resourcefulness that lies within each of us when we are faced with sudden and unexpected job loss, especially in the face of a job market with low to no prospect for a replacement job. Confronted with such circumstances, we think more deeply, broadly and creatively about what to do next. Alternatives that we might never otherwise consider become legitimate possibilities for exploration. Maybe it involves starting that business you always dreamed of, or going back to school, writing the next great American novel, or reconnecting with those long lost friends.
Job loss is frightening, not only because of the loss of income, but also because of the loss of certainty. No matter how we feel about our job, it is at least there every day when we wake up. Until it isn’t.
If you are one of the 90% who have not lost your job in the recession up to this point, the chances lessen each day that a pink slip awaits you when you show up to work. I suppose that you should be grateful that you will not have to confront the beast. But if you do, look past the ugliness and discover the beauty that lies within.