From Shanghai, China to Greenwich, Connecticut, Setting Off for Work Every Morning for Jobs Which No Longer Exist - 3 Solutions
"Some say they are ... too ashamed to tell their
relatives that they lost their jobs, so they have to conjure up places to go
during the day." - The
Wall Street Journal, December 24, 2023
That is about the jobless in Shanghai, China who are unemployed and can't
figure out how to inform those in the loop about that reality. Daily they leave
their residences to hang out at the library. Usually that locks them in
the past. There they retreat into regret over what we in America call “Spilled
Milk.”
Even though loss of jobs is currently a mainstream global development there
is still shame associated with no longer being part of the workforce. It isn't
only in the rigid work-oriented culture of China. And it isn't new.
Years ago, I had coached an unemployed lawyer in Greenwich, Connecticut (identity masked). He
boarded the Metro North train every morning to simulate having a job in a law
firm in Manhattan. On the platform he chatted with other professionals, as
usual. So traumatized, he didn't apply for jobs. He just rode the rails and found
places to hang out in NYC.
Unfortunately, the jobless lawyer was right to fear informing his spouse of
joblessness. When he did, instead of support she heaped on him hostility. When
he showed up at my coaching service for help, we put together a plan how he
could leverage his skills for another kind of career path. Obviously, the
marriage went kaput. Among other things, she balked at the reduced
compensation.
BEFORE THE AX EVEN FALLS
Currently the newly jobless in upscale urban areas continue to struggle with
not only job loss. Also, they hesitated to share with their supposed circle of
intimacy that they anticipated getting the ax.
Of course, at stake is a whole lifestyle. Also, follow the professional
anonymous networks such as Fishbowl, Reddit and Blind. There are ongoing
postings about the shrinkage of those plum opportunities in law, finance,
management consulting, marketing and tech. One business getting positive
attention on those networks is large law firm Paul, Weiss. That’s because it is
in a go-go growth phase. That means hiring and not conducting Reductions in
Force.
PARADISE LOST, FOREVER
Once pushed out, there may be no way back in. That's the buzz throughout
much of professional services and middle management. Meanwhile that's awful
news to bring home. It shouldn't be since home is supposed to be an emotional
safe harbor.
The good news is that there are solutions. Following are three of them.
BLUE COLLAR
On Reddit Career Guidance explicit is sizing up this: Blue collar has usually been stable for employment. You might not make Wall Street money, but you could do six figures.
Recently two former knowledge workers I coached became licensed
for long distance driving. Unlike piling on the M.B.A. ($50k tuition a year)
the entire training ranges from $3k to $7k. Agree to drive for a company for
two years and you could get a total free ticket. After the first year you
are established and can negotiate routes and compensation. Also, by bunking in the
truck you cut out the cost of renting.
Another advantage of blue collar? The ambitious could soon set up their own
businesses. Former truck drivers purchase their own vehicles to rent out.
MULTIPLE SOURCES OF INCOME
Another way to navigate job loss is to shift to earning income from multiple
sources. Those range from contract assignments in your field to gigs such as
food delivery and personal care (elderly, children, pets) to creating micro
enterprises. None of those are mutually exclusive. During that phase of a
working life assess who you are becoming or could become. You may like the new
you and want to remain in that orbit.
STRENGTH OF WEAK TIES
A third is to network aggressively but in a smooth, sincere manner. It
really is who you know. And they don't have to be in your field.
In the 1970s, sociologist Mark Granovetter found out through his seminal research
that the most jobs and other kinds of professional opportunities come through
information/help from casual acquaintances. They could be the neighbor or the
security guard where you used to work.
That phenomenon is called The
Strength of Weak Times. Those in your normal networks might not have access to knowing about the openings those out of that loop do. Also, the usual suspects may have
stereotyped you for only very specific tasks and don't let you know of the
opportunity. They assume you wouldn’t fit or not be interested. Or they are
competing with you on every level and keep the opening under wraps.
BEEN THROUGH THE WRINGER
Post 9/11 2001, my industry collapsed. With it the boutique I had been
operating since 1987. Confidence went poof. To get it back, cognitive
therapist Amy
Karnilowicz, who is still based in West Hartford, CT, mandated I get a job, any job.
That I did. It was in inner city retail loss prevention. In terms of
confidence, I wound up better than where my confidence had been in the best of
times. The "they" wanted me in supervision. However, I leveraged that
journey from my embedded insecurity to roaring self-confidence to launch a
digital communications service.
In 2021, that niche became increasingly glutted. Support for getting my
confidence back yet again came from someone who wouldn’t usually be on my
network. That had been Paul, Weiss chair Brad Karp. You bet, that was an
example of the playout of The Strength of Weak Ties. Since then, I have been
doing 80 percent of my work schedule in intuitive coaching/Tarot reading. Those
had been a sideline.
Incidentally Karp himself succeeds through The Strength of Weak Ties. He is
known as one of the most broadly connected leaders in Big Law. That impacts everything from new business development to achieving the results clients expect.
2024: SMIRK
There is an insightful saying in Zen: "Clear Thinking, Don't
Know." It is comedic to project what will happen in 2024. Too much can
happen.
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