This is the next thing I didn’t know back 25 years ago:Unemployment
When I was going to university, the professors talked about how to plan our professional careers smartly. They discussed the pros and cons of large corporate jobs versus opportunities working in innovate small companies. Knowing when to use a job position as a jumping board to a better paying job. Knowing when to sit down and invest some sweat and tears in a position to prove your professional mettle. What they never talked to us about was unemployment.
It seems to me that up until fifteen years ago or so, no educated professional had to fear involuntary unemployment. Nowadays, there are very few professional, no matter what position, who hasn’t had the foundation of their trust in secure employment shaken or broken.
Eight years ago, I left a permanent work contract in a medical equipment company to work in IT. That was just before the crash. Since the crash, I’ve been fortunate to find regular employment, but no one is offering a person my age a permanent job contract any more. I’ve been fortunate to find temporary contracts, even if they run out after two or three years.
I’ve had to come to terms that with the reality that there will be weeks or months of unemployment in between contracts. Some of my friends, many of them managers, have battled with the same phenomena, with less success. In a few cases, they’ve experienced devastating long term unemployment, which they have only been able to overcome by a) immigrating to Ireland or New Zealand, b) taking on less qualified jobs, or c) changing professions.
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