All over the news are reports of huge job losses as a result of this deepening global economic recession. Now we all know that the point of the news is to exaggerate, sensationalize, and tap into our emotions, but as technical folk we have no emotions so let’s look at the numbers and statistics:
| Company | # of Employees | Job Cuts | % of Company Fired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | 91,000 | 5,000 | 5.5% |
| Intel | 83,900 | 6,000 | 7.2% |
| United Airlines | 49,500 | 2,500 | 5.1% |
| Pfizer | 86,600 | 8,000 | 9.2% |
| Sprint Nextel | 60,000 | 8,000 | 13.3% |
| Texas Instruments | 30,000 | 3,400 | 11.3% |
| Catepillar | 112,000 | 20,000 | 17.9% |
Average - 10%
Current U.S. Unemployment Rate - 7.2%
While it definitely sucks to get fired, theoretically companies should be firing 10% of its worst performing employees. Now how hard could it possibly be to make sure you aren’t in the bottom 10th percentile? Realistically though, good people will end up getting fired because of corporate politics or the inability for management to discern crappy employees from good ones, but if you are able to accurately determine that you are better than 50% of your co-workers you should feel confident in not getting fired. Plus how many times have you gotten pissed off that there are tons of people around you doing absolutely nothing and getting paid the same amount of money? Hopefully this recession thing causes your company to “trim the useless fat” without cutting into any of the bone.
Anyway, this is an extremely unpopular and insensitive point of view because some of the people who are horrible at their job have three kids and an aging grandmother to support. However these “doom and gloom” reports should be giving you a reality check to make sure:
- You are keeping your skill set up to date.
- You can accurately determine your performance in relation to your co-workers.
- You know how to properly suck up to the right people.
In the end, the most employable people are the ones who are confident in their abilities, stay out of the bottom 50%, and are able to find a job if something unexpected should happen regardless of “market conditions.”
I thought this blog was supposed to be tracking the progress of a web design and development studio? Why are you blogging about the recession when Simande launched their first client website!
I hope this comment isn’t in the bottom 10%.