Is Job Security Dead?

[Heartofice]

11 minutes ago, A wilding said:

Is is a feature of capitalism, not a bug. Stress and fear of losing their job makes people tend to work harder (though probably not more effectively, for white collar jobs at least) and accept worse treatment, conditions and pay.

Actually the supposed feature is a free and flexible Labour market where workers are free to choose their workplace, to move between jobs when they need to quickly and easily, to relocate to where the work is. 
Also for firms to be able to hire the best staff as and when they need them, as well as let them go as and when they need them. 
 

That is the ideal, it’s just that life doesn’t really work like that and it doesn’t really take account of other human behaviours. The need for security and continuity for one, then the labour market is often not very flexible, it’s hard to get a job and often it’s more about who you know than what you know. 
 

I actually highly doubt that stress and fear leads to more productivity, in reality it leads to higher staff turnover and poorer results.

[A wilding]

The "free and flexible Labour market" may be how its sold, but no one really believes that surely? Companies don't want workers that able to jump ship the moment their jobs are made a little bit worse. They want to have all the power in the relationship and as few responsibilities as possible. And while that may not work out well in the longer term, it often can make senior management look good in the short/medium term, which is enough for them.

And agreed, part of the issue is the need of many workers for security and continuity and also to belong.

[Heartofice]

Well yeah, like most things I learnt in A-Level economics, the reality is quite far away from the pretty and simplistic graphs and concepts. There was this idea that a workforce should be mobile and be able to switch jobs and retrain if the landscape changes, but that is much easier said than done. Thats why 'Learn to code' was such a useless, and kind of offensive term.

However, I think a lot of companies I've worked for do in fact want to have a happy and productive workforce, and retention is a massive deal. Attracting and onboarding new staff is a real problem, it's costly and it doesn't always work out. Most managers want their staff to stick around and to be happy in their job, not wanting to jump ship. It doesn't make sense to piss everyone off so that they leave, I've been at places where that has happened and those companies die a death. 

 

[MercenaryChef]

the reality is no company or organization truly cares about you as a worker. you may be really good at what you do, well liked,  etc. but, there is always a scenario where they will tell you to go get fucked. 

the only workaround is organized labor and collective bargaining to force their hand into treating workers as important partners in the business instead of replaceable parts.

then you have job security. 

 

[Elder Sister]

I've been with the same company for over 18 years, have advanced and done well, but no, my job is not secure.  I second what Kal said...I could get laid off the minute it makes more sense to do it than to keep me.  I'm in a protected class now, but that's not really any protection to speak of.  It's why I try to work hard, be pleasant, make myself as indispensable as possible, and watch my back at all times.

I have recruiters reach out to me a good bit, but I'm happy where I am and don't want to move, especially right now.  If I can finish out my work career where I am now, I'll consider myself fortunate.

[Impmk2]

I work in medical research so I'm almost entirely dependent upon government grant funding. The grant application success rate for medical research funding here in Australia is 10-15% at the moment, so the result of that is I've bounced from lab to lab, working 6 jobs in the past 10 years. My current job is by far my longest so far at 2.5 years, and I just renewed my contract until mid-2023 which I feel very lucky about. I've also been very lucky in that the longest I've been out of work is about a month in all of that time. I love the work, but there really is very little job security in this industry here in Australia, and as a result we're losing a lot of talent overseas.

One of my colleagues who is extremely well liked, hard working and knowledgeable, with over 20 years hands on research experience is set to lose his position mid-2021. He's becoming a high school teacher. It's insanely wasteful.

 

[lacuna]

The boss of my company is an absolute moron at times, incapable of even the simplest thing. Not only that, he sticks his nose into every goddamn thing I do. When there's no work, he freaks out because of that. When there is, it's all "These deadlines are gonna kill me!" Only because you're bone idle! You can't just randomly not show up for work because you "ain't feelin' it today", you lazy prick! Oh, and you should see him when there's candy or cookies in the office. Pounces on it like a fucking velociraptor. I've gotten used to the inappropriate touching, but man... Wish I could quit this fucking job, but who the hell else would have me?

Ah, the joys of being self-employed.

[Lord of Oop North]

I will be the first sacrificial lamb to the slaughter if my project goes topsy curvy, even in ways that may be beyond my control. So no, no job security.

Is that good? No, certainly not. But that's business. We are just pawns. We just need to accept that and not pretend they are benevolent masters.