What to do in this Job Market?
All of us have heard this before. IT party is winding down. Whenever you turn on the TV or turn the pages of Business papers, the headlines glaring at us, 85000 jobs lost in one day across the world.
Notwithstanding the pessimistic view, IT services are here to stay in India. The pace might slow down for few months, which is a good thing to cool the things and expectations down. Satyam fiasco has put a damper on the numbers reported by IT companies. Many believe, there are more companies with skeletons hiding in the closet.
For a normal employee, the pressing problem is “Is my Job Safe?” . More worried about his EMI than the P/E ratios of the companies. They have been some layoffs in the industry but not as much as predicated.
In fact, more big items are being awarded or pursued by Frontline IT companies. Hiring has slowed down and every body is worried. But things don’t stay the same. Experience shows, after this slow down, things will only get better.
But how to protect your job in this economy?
I would venture out and dole out a very brave or non-traditional advice. The old school says, be proactive and be a good employee and take initiative at your work place and work long hours to impress your boss. My advice is, look at the person/journalist giving that advice. Does the journalist even know, how the IT companies works? If there is no work/project for the employee and bench time as exhausted, it is time let go that employee for some companies but for large companies, this contingency is already built in or more projects on the way.
Don’t think working long hours would keep your job safe. That is myth, propagated by Management or Journalists. As any good employee does, he wants to finish his project/assignment to best of his abilities. Working on long hours would not be productive than working smart in few hours.
My advice is, take care off your health. Companies come and go, jobs come and go. But if you stress out and spoil your health, no company or job can bring it back. In the long run, it will prove to be an expensive adventure. Try some stress buster activities.
Keep your finances in top shape. Plan to have a cushion of 6 months of expenses. All these will keep your stress level in control.
Companies are ruthless in this environment; they will do anything to trim down the expenses. Don’t take these actions personally. It is not their fault and there is no face to these companies. If you do get laid off, it is not your fault and it is not a reflection on your abilities.
The best you can do is, Enjoy everyday of your life and not worry about what comes tomorrow. I know it is easy to say but at least give it a try.