Reflection January 19, 2010

Today in class we discussed more about the issue of the Aging Workforce. I know I'm part of the stuck-up generation where we think that because we have all this new technology and new way of doing things, etc. that most of the aging population really isn't going to be a huge issue. I realized however that just because we have this massive amount of unemployed people out there, most of them probably don't have the skills or training for most upper-level and specialized jobs. We are much fewer in number than the Baby-Boomers generation and with our specialized jobs and new technology we require more people to do the same job that used to take only one or two people. So this makes the off-shoring and out-sourcing much more important to stay competitive.

This discussion brought us to a comparison of the old and new psychological contract. With the Baby-Boomers, and most generations before them, you came to work, did your job and stayed there your whole working life. Now we show up to work, do the job, share our ideas, gain new ideas and skills then move on to bigger and better things (i.e. jobs). This is so different from past generations, you used to be in the same company if not position for so long you knew your job inside and out. Now we stick around for long enough to either make it look good on a resume, to get out of the job/company all that you think you can before you move on to something that pays better or is in a better or more interesting location, or offers a schedule we like better.

I don't like job hopping much, but I know that if I know that a different company works to keep their employees as long as they can and treats their employees better I'm more likely to want to go to them than stay at a job that the employers treat me like I'm already half-way out the door the second I'm hired on. It's kind of a new slant on the chicken and egg scenario.