Research indicates that the stock market, because it is forward looking, recovers well in advance of the bottom of a recession. Unemployment however, peaks in the 2-3 months following the formal end of a recession. So what are we to make of current events?
It does appear that the stock market is either trying to, or has made a bottom in recent weeks. Too many of the indicators have changed their trend lines to be ignored. And while this may be good news as far as your 401(k) is concerned, it doesn’t change a thing with respect to your job security.
No employer wants to be caught “fat” in the recession, so they tend to cut employment costs well after the recession has ended. If the recession formally ends in early 2010, then like a hideous version of “ground hog day,” we could be in for many, many more weeks of layoffs.
My advice to all of the hard working people out there is to make a habit of playing your “A game.” Don’t even think about having the job market shifting from a head wind to a tail wind any time soon. As a matter of fact, don’t ever think there’s a tail wind that provides you with any job security at all.
Your job security only outgrows the strength of your intellectual and relational capital. Be the best at what you do and forge as many strong relationships along the way as possible. Then maybe, just maybe, you can relax…for a moment.