Current Events > I feel like job security is a myth

(+) Yeah! (+)

One argument for working a traditional job vs entrepreneurship is increased job security, but while I do feel that it is a benefit, it's a benefit that's complete overstated.

Companies are laying off and firing people left and right. You can work a job for 5 years then suddenly, a change in management or the company falling on rough times, or simple incompetent leadership can lead to a huge chunk of people losing their job with little time to prepare. In the modern workforce, people are completely dispensable and replaceable.
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It absolutely is, and anyone who says otherwise is deluded or a liar.
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companies want their employees to be loyal but don't feel a need to be loyal in return.
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I have my annual review today and I was worried I would get a bad one but I got a good one
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Even being a doctor is not great job security, what with all the mid level providers being churned our at lightning speed nowadays
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Job security these days is less about your loyalty to a company and more about how easily/quickly you could be employed based on your skillset and experience.

If you're a qualified nurse or vet you could walk into a temp shift as soon as they make their compliance checks. Freelance journalist for small newspaper - probably gonna struggle to find much. That to me is job security.
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My job wanted me to teach other employees my skills, skills I spent years at university learning and paid thousands to learn, so that they could take on bits from my role if/when it gets too busy, for free.

Yeah, no, and might I add, fuck off.
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I'm pretty safe I think. Nobody wants to do loss prevention, it's a major pain in the ass hiring new LP. I just got a raise based solely on the fact they want to keep me "engaged".
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Job security in the private sector is dependent on the value you provide to your employer, not some unmeasurable metric like "loyalty to the company." If you can be replaced by someone with less experience that can be paid less, you will get replaced. Make yourself indispensable to the company, or work to obtain skills in high demand, and you'll have job security.
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AlephZero posted...

Job security in the private sector is dependent on the value you provide to your employer, not some unmeasurable metric like "loyalty to the company." If you can be replaced by someone with less experience that can be paid less, you will get replaced. Make yourself indispensable to the company, or work to obtain skills in high demand, and you'll have job security.

This is correct.
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AlephZero posted...

Job security in the private sector is dependent on the value you provide to your employer, not some unmeasurable metric like "loyalty to the company." If you can be replaced by someone with less experience that can be paid less, you will get replaced. Make yourself indispensable to the company, or work to obtain skills in high demand, and you'll have job security.

Any skill can be learned, and we have access to tons of resources literally at our fingertips.

Your replacement is simply lurking around the corner, and they'll be willing to do the job for less. Your company might even try to goad you into training your replacement.

Don't be fooled into thinking you're the only person that can do your job.
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job security is a complete myth. at every job you should always be considering your next job and learning the skills to get you there, because it's kill or be killed at some point tbh
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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

AlephZero posted...

Job security in the private sector is dependent on the value you provide to your employer, not some unmeasurable metric like "loyalty to the company." If you can be replaced by someone with less experience that can be paid less, you will get replaced. Make yourself indispensable to the company, or work to obtain skills in high demand, and you'll have job security.

Any skill can be learned, and we have access to tons of resources literally at our fingertips.

Your next replacement is simply lurking around the corner, and they'll be willing to do the job for less. Your company might even try to goad you into training your next replacement.

Don't be fooled into thinking you're the only person that can do your job.

It's not about being the only person who can do your job. It's costly to hire and train people. In my case, there are certainly other network engineers who can do my job just as well or better. There's still the cost of hiring and training that person to be familiar with the network as a whole and how things work.
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AlephZero posted...

Make yourself indispensable to the company, or work to obtain skills in high demand, and you'll have job security.

Pretty much exactly what I was going to post.

Alternatively, just work a job that's so bad that literally no one else is willing to do it. >_>
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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

Any skill can be learned, and we have access to tons of resources literally at our fingertips.

yes and no

development of software that only you know how to operate but provides ultra-high value to the company is one way many technical people build their job security

technically others could learn how to use it but the power to teach them is in the hands of the operator
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CableZL posted...

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

AlephZero posted...

Job security in the private sector is dependent on the value you provide to your employer, not some unmeasurable metric like "loyalty to the company." If you can be replaced by someone with less experience that can be paid less, you will get replaced. Make yourself indispensable to the company, or work to obtain skills in high demand, and you'll have job security.

Any skill can be learned, and we have access to tons of resources literally at our fingertips.

Your next replacement is simply lurking around the corner, and they'll be willing to do the job for less. Your company might even try to goad you into training your next replacement.

Don't be fooled into thinking you're the only person that can do your job.

It's not about being the only person who can do your job. It's costly to hire and train people. In my case, there are certainly other network engineers who can do my job just as well or better. There's still the cost of hiring and training that person to be familiar with the network as a whole and how things work.

Companies aren't only looking at the short-term benefits of keeping you around though. The initial cost of training and hiring them is offset by the long-term benefit of having to pay someone less to do your job.

Let's not forget that they can still promote from within which offsets that cost considerably.
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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

The initial cost of training and hiring them is offset by the long-term benefit of having to pay someone less to do your job.

depends heavily on the job

most employers don't actually put this much thought into things though in my experience
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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

CableZL posted...

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

AlephZero posted...

Job security in the private sector is dependent on the value you provide to your employer, not some unmeasurable metric like "loyalty to the company." If you can be replaced by someone with less experience that can be paid less, you will get replaced. Make yourself indispensable to the company, or work to obtain skills in high demand, and you'll have job security.

Any skill can be learned, and we have access to tons of resources literally at our fingertips.

Your next replacement is simply lurking around the corner, and they'll be willing to do the job for less. Your company might even try to goad you into training your next replacement.

Don't be fooled into thinking you're the only person that can do your job.

It's not about being the only person who can do your job. It's costly to hire and train people. In my case, there are certainly other network engineers who can do my job just as well or better. There's still the cost of hiring and training that person to be familiar with the network as a whole and how things work.

Companies aren't only looking at the short-term benefits of keeping you around though. The initial cost of training and hiring them is offset by the long-term benefit of having to pay someone less to do your job.

Let's not forget that they can still promote from within which offsets that cost considerably.

Yeah, but "promoting someone from within" from "position x" to network engineer involves a shitload of training cost. Not to mention once person A is trained up to my level, they'd easily get snatched up by another company if the pay isn't competitive. Then they'd have to start all over again.
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CableZL posted...

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

CableZL posted...

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

AlephZero posted...

Job security in the private sector is dependent on the value you provide to your employer, not some unmeasurable metric like "loyalty to the company." If you can be replaced by someone with less experience that can be paid less, you will get replaced. Make yourself indispensable to the company, or work to obtain skills in high demand, and you'll have job security.

Any skill can be learned, and we have access to tons of resources literally at our fingertips.

Your next replacement is simply lurking around the corner, and they'll be willing to do the job for less. Your company might even try to goad you into training your next replacement.

Don't be fooled into thinking you're the only person that can do your job.

It's not about being the only person who can do your job. It's costly to hire and train people. In my case, there are certainly other network engineers who can do my job just as well or better. There's still the cost of hiring and training that person to be familiar with the network as a whole and how things work.

Companies aren't only looking at the short-term benefits of keeping you around though. The initial cost of training and hiring them is offset by the long-term benefit of having to pay someone less to do your job.

Let's not forget that they can still promote from within which offsets that cost considerably.

Yeah, but "promoting someone from within" from "position x" to network engineer involves a shitload of training cost.

Well, I can't speak for network engineering, but that hardly applies to most of the American populace.
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Companies dont want to lose their employees especially if theyre seasoned vets but sometimes life happens.

This is why it is important to have savings.
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Fluttershy462 posted...

Companies dont want to lose their employees especially if theyre seasoned vets but sometimes life happens.

This is why it is important to have savings.

companies are always doing projections trying to get rid of seasoned vets who earn higher salaries.
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DK9292 posted...

It absolutely is, and anyone who says otherwise is deluded or a liar.

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

Well, I can't speak for network engineering, but that hardly applies to most of the American populace.

Agreed, but again, that speaks to what AlephZero said.

AlephZero posted...

Job security in the private sector is dependent on the value you provide to your employer, not some unmeasurable metric like "loyalty to the company." If you can be replaced by someone with less experience that can be paid less, you will get replaced. Make yourself indispensable to the company, or work to obtain skills in high demand, and you'll have job security.

99% of people don't give a shit about networking, let alone enough to go for certs or education on their own to get to network engineer level. Even fewer actually get certified. A tad less than that can actually perform the job IRL.
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Darkman124 posted...

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

Any skill can be learned, and we have access to tons of resources literally at our fingertips.

yes and no

development of software that only you know how to operate but provides ultra-high value to the company is one way many technical people build their job security

technically others could learn how to use it but the power to teach them is in the hands of the operator

Sure, but then someone comes along with something even better and then suddenly your value diminishes, especially since they're now aware of your unwillingness to teach others.

Might not happen in the immediate future, but it will happen eventually.
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CableZL posted...

99% of people don't give a shit about networking, let alone enough to go for certs or education on their own to get to network engineer level. Even fewer actually get certified. A tad less than that can actually perform the job IRL.

Of course, but the reason for that is that logically, not everyone can be a network engineer. There still has to be other people around to work the other jobs, and with most of those other jobs, there's absolutely no security.
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This is why I love working public sector. While the inefficiencies, bureaucracy, and politics can be bothersome, I don't have to worry about my job being taken over. You basically have to break the law to be fired from government, and even then people often don't get fired.
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Darkman124 posted...

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

Any skill can be learned, and we have access to tons of resources literally at our fingertips.

yes and no

development of software that only you know how to operate but provides ultra-high value to the company is one way many technical people build their job security

technically others could learn how to use it but the power to teach them is in the hands of the operator

This is a very big frustration in my job. Got developers acting like they're bulletproof with shitty behaviour they should be getting reprimanded or fired over...and the trouble is they basically are bulletproof, because they are the only person on hand who can navigate the labyrinthine database setup that would take someone else 2 years to learn.
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