Today the U.S. government labor report announced the loss of 524,000 jobs in the final month of 2008.
If we also take into account the previous two month’s figures (which have been revised upward in this latest report): “November’s job loss was revised up to 584,000 from 533,000, and October was revised up to 423,000″, then we can calculate an average of 510,333 jobs lost per month over the last three months. If we take this figure and extend it over the next 12 months, you get 6,124,000. That is over six million jobs at stake in 2009.
For those who thought 2008 was bad and the government’s announcment in Dec. ’08 regarding the economy being in a recession are in for a harsh surprise. Six million jobs will be a lot of jobs lost. And if you consider that each person employed also has a partner and child that leaves 18,000,000 Americans without a job’s income or said differently, dependant on government support. Are you prepared to lose your job?
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The last line of your post is the key — not, are you prepared to lose your job, but BE PREPARED to lose your job. There are some things you should put in place just in case that happens. They vary from personal finances to things you can do on the job. For instance, take a look at your lifestyle. There may be things you can do without now, before you are forced to do without them. That’s just one step you can take at home. At work you’ll want to get some things in order — say you work in sales, do you have your contacts and sales statistics in order so that you can take them with you if you’re suddenly laid off? Think of things you won’t have access to after you’re gone. It makes sense that you’ll have more success in surviving job loss and finding a new job if you are prepared now.
You can not say that you are ready to lose your job because even if you are one of the lucky ones who has alternative income sources you will still lose some money. But unfortunately few people can rely on more than their salary … Well either way you have to start making a back-up plan: research what kind of jobs are still on demand and polish your resume and interview skills… However, if you held your current job for a long time or if you are very new on the market do some research on getting hired tips in order to get in touch with the current trends in the HR field.
Considering the latest figures on job losses in the US, it wouldn’t be far fetched to predict 8,000,000+ jobs lost in 2009.
Those are daunting figures, Greg. It will be difficult all the way around, but it is important for people to do what they can to stay competitive. Many people are heading back to school to increase or finish their education. This post I recently wrote for http://www.MyUSearch.com talks about recession-proof and job growth areas after the recession. Your readers might find it informative and perhaps a little less doom & gloom. http://myusearchblog.com/recession-education-and-tomorrows-job-market-2
Cheers!
Lynn