The good news about the labour market

Australia's employment rate is 95.2%. That's not bad. We only ever hear about the unemployment rate of 4.8%. The purpose of the media is to tell the news in a way which sells the most papers and advertising. A great example is the sensationalism with which the media portraits the mass layoffs and company closures in recent times.

Don't get me wrong, these are challenging times and retrenchments are happening at an unprecedented rate. Some industries and occupations are suffering more than others. Engineering, for example, is being hit hard by the downturn.

But it's not all doom and gloom. There is still work which needs to be done. There are still jobs out there. 

I'm pleasantly surprised by the underlying buoyancy in the market. Participants on our Career Transition programs are generally finding work quicker than one would expect. But those that are the most successful are working the hardest.

Jobs simply aren't being advertised at present. Companies are reluctant to advertise yet they are still recruiting. So don't focus on the bad news, focus on the good news: you have great talents which someone, somewhere will gladly pay for.

Will you finish strong?

Here is a 60 second video clip of an inspirational speech by Nick Vujicic. This man has an amazing spirit. You can't help but be inspired by watching this. 

What professionals want

I was getting my coffee at my favourite local coffee shop - The Newsroom Cafe in Toowong - and started speaking with the Barista about the impact of the Global Financial Crisis. Yup, good hearty morning topic with a double shot flat white. Her partner is a computer game designer and recently had a project axed on which she was working for two years. She was devastated that two years of work was down the drain.

Professionals want professional recognition. Regardless of the occupation, professionals want to use their profession and grow and develop over time. Give an architect interesting work and they'll stay. Give an accountant a challenging assignment and they'll thrive.

Make sure that your manager knows the type of work that you enjoy. Convince them to give you such work as you'll give 120% effort in return.

Where do you career

I must admit to a twinge of patriotism over the Australia day long weekend. It must of been all the Australian flags attached to cars. I did see one person who was 3 times more patriotic than the average Australian: he had 3 flags attached to his car.

But this is not a flag post. Its about Australia, about where we choose to live and, therefore, work. Location is the first decision to make in your career. It impacts on our life and the opportunities available to us. 

Richard Florida argues vehemently on the role of location in his book: "Who's Your City". While I don't agree on his belief that globalisation is overstated, I do believe that the role of location is often overlooked in making decisions about career and life.

First step: identify your preferred career directions. Second, identify the life influences on this (family, kids at school etc). Then identify where you could achieve this.

Pre-emptive layoffs

The difference between the current downturn and previous ones is that companies are laying off people in anticipation of bad times ahead. Redundancy has traditionally been a last resort when times are shown to be tough but now 'belt-tightening' is rampant. 

I'd say about half of the Outplacement (Career Transition) projects I'm currently involved with are pre-emptive strikes. 

This is somewhat intriguing as research shows that 2/3's of downsizings do not increase profits. While the immediate strategy can be justified, I wonder what will happen in 12-24 months when the market starts to pick up again? According to IBISWorld Chairman, Phil Ruthven, Australia will experience full employment (4.5% - 5.5% unemployment) for the next 25 years. 

Balancing the short term risk of profitability and the long term risk of organisational sustainability is a difficult one.

Emotional Labour

My mother-in-law recently spent over a month in palliative care at Canossa Private Hospital before passing away. A difficult time for all involved but something we have to face eventually.

I've been amazed, as I am everytime I engage with a hospital, by the dedication and care displayed by the nurses and other staff who work there. These individuals undertake arguably the most demanding work of our century: emotional labour.

First coined by the sociologist Arlie Hochschild Emotional Labour involves managing one's emotions so that they are consistent with what is expected from someone in that occupation or organisation, regardless of the person's internal feelings.

A nurse, for example, is expected to display empathy all the time. Even when they are having a bad day. This is the challenge of emotional labour.

The demand for Emotional labour will continue to increase over the decades ahead. An ageing population, increased life expectancy and the move from the information age to the experience age will drive this demand.

If you are an emotional labourer, I thank you.

If you are not, go and thank someone who is.

Thank god we have them.

Use technology to stay updated

A key career skill is to keep your skills and knowledge up-to-date. Continuous learning is not a buzz word, it is an essential part of a successful career.

Fortunately, there is plenty of information out there.
Unfortunately, there is plenty of information.

Use technology to easily stay updated. Let me share what I do. I'm certainly not advocating that it is the best or only way, but I've been experimenting for a few years and this is my latest approach:

• Understand what a RSS feed is. Basically, uptodate information gets 'pushed' to you rather than you visiting dozens of sites.
• Use a Reader to subscribe to RSS Feeds from the websites that you want to stay up to date with. I use Google Reader.
• Subscribe to great sites. I recently found Business Spectator. A great way to quickly hear about breaking news.
• Check your reader regularly. I use a reader on my phone (HTC Touch, I know, it's not an iphone). So whenever I have a spare 30 seconds (traffic lights, lift, coffee queue...) I do a quick check.

Don't be afraid to use technology. Book in 20 minutes to set this up. You'll get this time back in the first week.