Look After Your Employment Prospects

It’s a tough employment market out there. Employers are making cut backs and asking more of their staff for the same or less money. Employees are caught between staying in the same job, working harder and, in some cases, more hours, or moving on; trying their hand in a new role. Is there an advantage to moving on to a new firm?

Yes and no.

There’s the satisfaction of dropping a disrespectful employer like a hot brick, but you have to balance that with the chance that the new place might well find itself needing to let people go shortly after you join, then you’re looking at the risk of falling victim to the classic ‘last in, first out’ clause.

If you’re fortunate enough to find yourself in a role that’s reasonably steady, maybe now’s the time to re-skill; look at your current profession and keen your techniques, learn new methods. That way, when things pick up, you stand a better chance of finding the perfect replacement role and actually moving up rather than across just for the sake of it. Let’s face it, no matter where you go, you’re going to find the sorts of people that make you feel like it’s time to move on again, isn’t it better to move on and move up?

Times are tough, and right now it feels like the ball is firmly in the employer’s court. To a certain extent it is. At the end of the day, the average business owner or board member isn’t going to get hurt by the current situation, even if the business goes under; they’ve got plenty of reserves to fall back on. Your job is to make sure your reserves – your skills – are there to fall back on, should the worst happen. Your first loyalty is to yourself and your family or loved ones.