In 1980, most job seekers were happy to have a job. After the decade of the 1980's, with its many cycles of mergers, acquisitions and downsizings (later changed to rightsizing to soften the blow), the worker mentality began to shift. People no longer looked for the gold watch for years of service (many did not survive long enough to receive it). Workers began to be concerned if they were next.
The 1990's saw historical growth in the number of businesses and America's bench strength was strong. Fueled by the "dot com" anything surge, the demand for workers was fueled by the pursuit of the American Dream. One of the interesting things that occurred in the 1990's was that worker satisfaction began to erode. As organizations grew larger, and faster, became internationally competitive, demanded more from workers, and responded to the thirst of Wall Street: Workers became even more dissatisfied, pleas for better pay, working conditions, bonus plans and clarity on promotional paths went largely unsatisfied. Many felt their pleas were invisible to management.
In January and February of 2007 separate studies headlined: "Americans hate jobs more than ever" and "Most U.S. workers not living the dream." The first article (Americans hate jobs...) was the result of a survey conducted by The Conference Board, a market information company that puts out the Leading Economic Indicators and the Consumer Confidence Index. The survey they took in 1987 (twenty years ago) and the one recently concluded has seen overall job satisfaction drop from 61 percent to nearly 40 percent. Contrasting those numbers to the Harris Interactive survey, conducted between November and December of 2006, which puts the number of dissatisfied workers closer to 80 percent and it is easy to say: "Houston, we've got a problem."
In the 1980's, when speaking with technology talent, a certain amount of job dissatisfaction was to be expected. Workers were careful to not bad-mouth their current organization but in 2007, the gloves are off. Mrs. Manners has apparently left the building. Today it is quite common for workers to be very open about what is wrong and what they want.
After listening to nearly 50,000 people vent about jobs, it is easy for Erler Associates [EA] to come up with a short list of their requests. Employers take notice:
Serving the talent acquisition industry, since 1980, gives you insights. If you think about it, none of the above should surprise you because... sometimes it's YOU that is looking and these are not unreasonable requests. Finally, remember that Employees are individuals, like you, and not to be viewed or treated as trial-ware.
In 1980, most job seekers were happy to have a job. After the decade of the 1980's, with its many cycles of mergers, acquisitions and downsizings (later changed to rightsizing to soften the blow), the worker mentality began to shift. People no longer looked for the gold watch for years of service (many did not survive long enough to receive it). Workers began to be concerned if they were next.
Continue Reading...It seems as though the word "Crisis" is popping up more frequently in all of our lives. The trailer on the news feeds read: "Terror Alert Elevated", the immigration issue is changing the face (and language) of the land, more people are restless about their jobs, and one can sense the uneasiness over issues of the economy, globalization, and politics.
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