Keeping an Eye on Technology Futures, No Hidden Agendas, New Attitudes, No Platitudes!
Most often, the lowest-level workers are laid off, and the best higher level people quit. So management becomes more remote, closeted in endless meetings, and more work is expected from the remaining few. It's a downward slide that cannot be stopped. Go read the JimPinto.com weblogs.
If you've been fired - laid-off, made redundant, reduction-in-force, restructure - it should NOT come as a surprise. Surely you saw it coming. The weblogs are filled with complaints, many accepting that they are probably the next to go from cost-cutting and offshoring. More and more "head counts" will shrink as they scramble to meet shrinking budgets. This is a signal that serious change is here.
This is a wake-up call from illusions of "the good old days. If you're one of the growing number of people who have lost their jobs, or can clearly see the writing on the wall, what are you going to do? Where will you look for another job?
The old question, "How much experience do you have?" does NOT apply anymore. If I was at Emerson, I would avoid hiring someone who's just been laid-off from Rockwell, Honeywell or Invensys. Indeed "experience" in any large company is a liability in the new economy.
If you're out of a job, count yourself lucky to get an early signal that CHANGE has come. Being out of work destroys your self-respect and makes you cynical. Instead of just looking for work and finally accepting some stupid low-paid job to make ends meet - think of something different.
Why wait? Why not just use this opportunity to be your own boss, start your own company? Become a self-motivated entrepreneur. Take the quiz "Should you quit your job?" (weblink below). Make your move.
Look for good chemistry with others who are in similar positions, with complementary skills, and START something. Necessity is the "mother of invention". Find good, growing needs - and fill them.
Think outside the old box. Look at the kid who wrote software that shows beer slopping inside the Apple iPhone - they're selling' millions at $1 each. Now, why can't YOU think of something?
You do NOT need big capital to start - the money goes primarily for big salaries. Pay yourself and the founders drastically cutback living expenses, and share the ownership - stock in your new startup. Be your own boss. Work hard to build something for yourself. You'll be happy you did!
Hey, I've been an angel-investor for over a decade. Send me a (non-confidential) one-page summary of your idea, and I'll give you my opinion.
