About Staffing : Felling Out of Control a Concern for AllMany people are feeling out of control these days. Sharlene Massie |
|
|
The stock market is just plain confusing with our investments and retirement funds disappearing as fast as we blink. Every day we wake up and check gas prices to see whether we drive or take the bus to work today. The unemployment rate is still really low and we have no control over that, but it’s a little number that is an absolute driving force in our economy.
With all the uncertainty comes a list of questions. Will the companies we work for still exist tomorrow? Will we have jobs? The price of bread and milk may skyrocket, or may stabilize, who knows? Will we be able to afford groceries? Will we have to choose to buy food or pay the mortgage? It’s a crap shoot.
We used to talk about the weather being Mother Nature’s split decision, and death and taxes being the only sure things.
In our business, a small business in a huge industry - staffing and employment - we don’t have control over much. We try to perfectly match job seekers to the best possible job openings, but we deal with personalities and deciphering between wants-versus-needs most of the time.
I watch that darn unemployment rate every week to see if layoffs are coming down the pipe. If the unemployment rate drops that usually means more choices for employers, but fewer job openings for applicants. The unemployment rate can be a measurement driver for us, but we have no control over it. We can just try to adapt, plan for ups and downs over the long haul, manage the immense stress that comes with the feeling of being out of control, and take comfort where we do have control.
Businesses need to tighten expenses to avoid layoffs and keep people working. People need to understand that the market will stabilize one day, we just don’t know when. The unemployment rate in Alberta is still far below the national average, and where it should be to equalize the job openings to the number of possible workers. It may never climb to the needed 5% to get that equalization. Who knows?
What we do know is that we have control over our attitudes, our hope, our faith, and many factors of our health and the ability to turn the clocks back this weekend. We don’t have control over time, but it is an easy thing to manage.
-- Sharlene Massie is the C.E.O. of About Staffing Ltd., a dynamic personnel agency specializing in direct-hire and temporary placements. Questions for Sharlene? Visit the About Staffing website at (www.aboutstaffing.com), and click on the link under the Sun logo. This article may be reproduced or transmitted if done so in its entirety, including this copyright line: Copyright 2008, by About Staffing Ltd., all rights reserved.
How many hours a week do you work?