Spanky said:
I guess all job creations are result of problems, and without them there will be no need for people. If we have no intrinsic problems to solve, we have to introduce or create problems.
I would not state it quite the same way.
Jobs are created to get some activity performed that cannot be done with existing people. If you work in a company that solves problems (Help Desk, etc.) then yes, you would be hired to solve problems. If you work making something i.e., manufacturing, then you work to create something by converting raw materials into a finished product. The more product they need, the more people they may need to hire.
In my department, we hire people to do specific tasks required by our business and to meet various regulations, laws and internal requirements. The trend over the past several years has been to do more with less people. Hiring is a last resort and takes forever for management to agree to hire anyone. We have had a hiring freeze for many months and it looks to continue next year.
As price pressures become more of an issue, cost containment gets a front seat and employee benefits are shaved off a little at a time. We will have higher co-pays for medical services next year; our deductables are increasing, our drug benefits are requiring higher co-pays, and our costs for insurance have increased by 5% from last year which had gone up 5% from the year before.
The worker-business relationship in the US has eroded significantly from when I first started working. Companies still demand loyality and dedication to your job and the company while they slowly screw over the workforce and then wonder why no one is interested in working extra hours (for free) to help the company. They parade around touting Work Balance and then dump another project on you that will require more time away from your family.
Management has become a reward for the @ss kissers in the organization and is less about ability to do the job and actually supervise people than it is about impressing the boss by blowing sunshine up their butt to get that next promotion. The end result is a bunch of politically astute managers that have no clue how to relate to people in a way that will create work environment that encourages employees to want to work and contribute not only their sweat but also their minds. Management thinks they are the only ones that are able to think and so whatever they dream up must be the right thing to do. The art of supervision without fear, intimidation or incompetence is rare.
Is it any wonder most people see the working world as a prison sentence? 30 years to life; time off for good behavior (vacations) and a chance at parole (retirement). If you find a good job with good management that pays well you are very very lucky. Most don't have that so enjoy it while it lasts. Just remember, every job is expendable. You can be replaced and you can be made redundant at the whim of management because that is the way it is. It is not a social program; there are no entitlements; it is work and you have a job because one was created for a specific purpose. When that purpose is changed or the business sees a way to combine tasks together, your job can disappear. It is not personal…it is just business. One has to understand that is the way it works and always have an escape plan.
