The Myth of Job Security

"Job security is a myth. The only true security is the ability to adapt and thrive in a changing world." - Unknown

Create Your Own Security

Once upon a time (yes, it does feel like fiction), people had a career path that was mapped out for them and they would go to work, do the job or varying senior levels thereof for 40 years and then retire, from the same firm, after 40 years. Just imagine that. This does not exist anymore.

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For many years as a contractor in Financial Services, I would hear permanent members of staff saying that they could never work as a contractor because they preferred the job security that came from permanent roles. As the annual “organisational restructure” came around, however, it was always the permanent staff who were “restructured” out of the organisation, while the contractors remained on site working on projects, some of which had lengthy delivery schedules.

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Sometimes, those permanent staff members were even replaced by contractors. Now this is not to say that contracting is superior to permanent employment, each has its benefits that suit people’s needs differently and the fact is the IR35 rules here in the UK certainly changed contracting completely, which ironically goes to show that there is no such thing as job security in any form anymore. And this is not just a result of the global pandemic.

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What has caused the lack of job security?

There is a combination of forces in play:

• A growing population of working age people (at both ends of the age spectrum) creating greater competition for the available roles.
• Better access to qualified candidates available globally, employed either through outsourcing, remote working or on work visas.
• Automation and AI are changing the nature of work and eliminating certain jobs, whether we like to admit it or not.
• Changing societal priorities and preferences (e.g. a move away from fossil fuels).
• Mergers and acquisitions that may mean the new ‘parent company’ already has someone with your skills in the equivalent role.
• Cost cutting to stay afloat due to an economic downturn.
• The relocation of headquarters, as we saw during Brexit (I’m talking about you James Dyson).

And various other causal factors that mean companies are able to, or have to, reduce their headcount costs removing any notion of security from a large number of roles across the spectrum. The biggest lesson about job security is that there is no security in something about which someone else gets to make the decisions.

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What can you do to future-proof and secure your career?

Become self-reliant

Don’t rely on your employer to keep your skills and qualifications up to date. Keep yourself informed of new technologies in the field and acquire the skills you need to progress in the industry you are in, or want to be in. As a former Learning and Development Lead in corporate, I can assure you the L&D budget is the first thing out the window when a company needs to cut costs so that training you’d love to go on just becomes less and less likely to end up on the corporate books.

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Treat your career as a project

Create a timeline for your career including milestones and goals that you wish to achieve, refer to it often and keep a record of your achievements along the way, you will need these for your résumé/ CV up. You should update your CV at least once per quarter.

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Develop your personal brand

Make sure you are known for the thing you are great at and build your network in person and on social media platforms, such as here on LinkedIn, providing insights about your ‘thing’. People will come to remember you as the “Project Management Guru” (or whatever) and likely think of you when they need someone when they are recruiting project managers etc. Start building your personal brand and adding value now, so that your network is ready when you need it

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Conclusion

The death of job security can be a gift if you take the opportunity to prepare for it. Ironically, being prepared for having to look for a new role can actually secure your place in your current company for longer, because you are continuing to grow and develop new skills, which ultimately become valuable to your organisation.

But knowing that longevity no longer exists, you get to create your own future and have the potential to work on something you love instead and build your own “thing”, a friend of mine left corporate last year to setup her own business, guess who is the happiest I have ever seen her??

I am here to help

Do you need help with future-proofing your career? Come have a call , I can help you with tailored, targeted coaching - and it's not all lengthy Zoom calls and set times either, I have nifty tricks up my sleeve, come find out more.