Christmas time is finally here and most employees are perhaps enjoying their meals and exchanging gifts, two familiar scenes when Yuletide season sinks in. But part of reality is the fact that practically a million workers (and counting) from the globe have lost their jobs, many of whom got their last paycheck in perhaps large sums. With that in mind, should you spend it all?
There are some who have saved as much as they can. Spending on a budget and making sure that they don’t go on empty. Some are planning their 2009 plan of action, much of which is to land a new job by reading the papers or visiting some job sites that provide various posts on job openings.
The people who got bonuses are quite lean this year and this can be typified by the sales of most retailers, a lot of whom admitted dwindled a lot. So while we don’t want to ruin Christmas, keep that thought that a week from now, 2009 is here. Draw out your career plans. The Year of the Ox does not seem bright thus far.
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2.5 million jobs. Is that sufficient enough to provide and ease the stigma of people facing the prospects of being without work? As far as incoming US President Barrack Obama is concerned, it seems likely to be the requirement to get jumpy people to calm down.
It seems that Obama is not wasting time to address the economic issue. You just have to take your hats off to the guy. He knows he has his work cut out for him starting next year. Hence with the main goal of creating that much jobs by 2011, hopefully it can help resolve the issue of impending recession as more reports of companies in trouble come rushing in.
Among the jobs he is aiming to create include:
1. Rebuilding roads and bridges
2. Modernizing schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars
Now Obama is hitting two birds with one stone. Not only is he addressing the issue of people without jobs, it is also aimed at improving the state of the country which by far seems to be falling fast.
“These aren’t just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis. These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long,”
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Cutting down on Dividends and Executive Bonuses
Aug.03, 2008 in Business Administration, Career, Financing
When a company makes a profit, there are generally only a few things they do with that profit in normal economic times. Either the profit goes into the pockets of the executives as bonuses for a job well done or it goes into the hands of the shareholders through dividend payments. Now, most companies know to stop dividend payments in times of economic hardship, but there are very few companies that will take the next logical step and cut down on the salaries of the executives in order to preserve the overall health of the corporation.
In theory, this is quite understandable as the people that make those decisions would have to consciously choose to pay themselves less money in order to benefit a lot of people that they don’t even know. Layoffs are far more logical from the point of view of the executives. However, consider that layoffs will not only make your company far less productive, but they will also exacerbate problems with the economy as there will be less people in the position to be consumers since they have lost their disposable income sources.
It takes a special kind of person to understand that workers keeping their jobs is the best thing for the economy right now and it takes an even better kind of executive leader to make the conscious decision to limit executive bonuses until economic times are good again. You might resist this idea initially, but when you examine it closely you will see the logic to the idea.
If you were to question the average worker as to what their preference would be between getting a few of their perks cut back on at work or losing their job entirely, my guess would be that an overwhelming majority of the workers you questioned would choose the first option as being the better one. To this end, if you cut back on employee perks at your business
Employee perks are surprisingly expensive when they are added up. Things like expense accounts for the management and supplies like water and refreshments for the basic workers can become very pricey over time but since they add to morale and therefore increase overall productivity, companies do not really pay attention to such things in the middle of good economic times. However, in bad economic times most workers would understand that morale is a secondary concern to preserving their job and therefore would go along with cuts made by the employer to perks.
If you can convince your workers that these cuts are in their best interest because they will save jobs from being terminated, then you should definitely try this strategy before you start firing people. Aside from the obvious moral implications of mass layoffs at any company, it is a massive change in the structure and that can easily destabilize the finances of a company that has not achieved maturity.
For majority of employees today, chances are your first job would be situated in the cubicles of company offices. While some may find it exciting and challenging, there are other workers who don’t want to get pinned down to the office.
People who want to be on the go are often suited for sales and marketing jobs. In short, they want to be able to move anywhere, interact and do business
Also, these people can also look at starting a business and being their own boss as an alternative. While it is risky, especially if you are a new graduate and totally have no idea on how to manage a business, it would be best to take it slow and get advice from family or friends before deciding on an entrepreneurial job.
One thing about becoming an entrepreneur is that once you eventually decide to work for a company, you don’t have work experience to show. This is important these days and considering that age is another factor, consider the fact that no company wants to hire elders to do new staff position jobs. There is simply a lot of new graduates that are looking for a job with advanced knowledge to boot.
