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Do You Have A Back Up Plan?
By: Marquez Comelab
What we can all learn from this article is the idea that we do not have to rely
on our employers to be there for us when we desperately need them to pay us our
periodic paycheques at the end of our working days. There are alternatives and,
while we still can, I believe we owe it to ourselves and our families to have a
back-up plan and look at every single opportunity available.
I know a woman in her sixties. She worked for a company for a little more than a
decade as an administration and office assistant for a staff of one hundred
sales people, who loved her dearly. She always made sure all the faxes got to
their desks; the stationery stock was full and each staff member had what he
needed.
Beyond her job description, she was like a mother to all of them: making sure
the toilets got cleaned, old food was removed from the fridge and decorating the
entire floor which the department occupied. She worked hard and never
complained. She was always smiling, friendly and polite.
She felt good about being a ‘mother’ to all the people who entered and left that
department. She was comfortable with her position. No-one else could do the
things she did. And she did them better than anyone else in the building.
One day, she went to work as usual. After doing her morning chores, she was
invited to the office, where she was told her services were no longer needed.
The company was undergoing certain cost-cutting measures in every department and
unfortunately, her role would have to be sacrificed. She was then asked to leave
the building as soon as possible. She was assured, however, that before having
made the decision, every attempt had been made to find a position for her
somewhere within the company.
She has financial obligations to fulfil and she still hasn’t saved enough for
her retirement. She still has credit to pay off and she was saving for a trip
overseas, something she never got around to doing in her younger years. She
wanted to save up to establish a book-selling business. Suddenly, she would have
to re-evaluate her plans. Losing a job and nearing retirement age, she will have
to relinquish some of the things she had dreamt for herself.
I am sure you have heard hundreds of similar stories like these. Just five
months before writing this article, I had already read about companies cutting
costs by laying off jobs. Their main reason is to remain competitive, so they
would not have to raise the prices they charge to their customers. Companies are
outsourcing jobs overseas because the labour costs in other countries are
relatively cheap compared to the local currency and sometimes because of
significant skills or technological advantages. Other businesses lessen staff
when sales drop and they can no longer sustain to pay the same number of people
they have on their payroll. No organisation – not even a big, established
business – is immune from the need to become leaner in an ever-increasingly
competitive market environment.
In the past, most people believed the companies or the governments – whom they
work for – could guarantee them a job for life. Nowadays, I think more and more
people are becoming increasingly aware that expecting to have a job-for-life is
unrealistic. It is a dire predicament to be working everyday, taking care of
someone else’s business and realising that at the end of one’s career, years of
service do not guarantee one’s well-being. Because of this, I believe that
people are now looking to improve their chances of having enough funds to meet
their needs and wants after retirement.
I think there is a dawning awareness that the ultimate responsibility for one’s
own well-being lies within each individual. People are beginning to understand
that their boss or the company they work for does not have an obligation nor the
ability to ensure that they are taken care of when they finish working for them.
According to an article written by John Roskam*, based on a forthcoming
Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) Backgrounder on self-employment and the
self-reliant society, the trend to self-employment will speed up in coming
decades. Five reasons explain this change:
1. Our societies will continue to develop knowledge-intensive and service
industries.
2. Jobs of the future need more education; however, better educated workers
might opt to work for themselves instead.
3. Older workers are more comfortable with being self-employed than the younger
workers, which might indicate individuals would prefer to work for themselves as
they grow older.
4. Individuals want more control and flexibility over their working arrangements
and self-employment allows for this.
5. Individuals are more willing to assume responsibility for the decisions that
affect their lives and their families.
In addition to this trend, more and more people are now seeking to gain greater
control over their financial assets.
What we can all learn from this article is the idea that we do not have to rely
on our employers to be there for us when we desperately need them to pay us our
periodic paycheques at the end of our working days. There are alternatives and,
while we still can, I believe we owe it to ourselves and our families to have a
back-up plan and look at every single opportunity available. The question for
you is this: Do you have a back-up plan?
Footnotes:
* “Self-Reliance and the Self-Employment Revolution” http://www.ipa.org.au/files/news_953.html
(21st March 2005).
About the Author:
Marquez Comelab is the author of the book: The Part-Time Currency Trader. He
believes that trading and investing are skills people should learn while they
are still young so when they grow old, they do not have to rely too much on
their pension. See:
http://www.marquezcomelab.com. |
