Job Security: Does it Exist Today?

by Paul Palmer, Jr. II 

January 2011

When I talk to other Consortium alumni, current Consortium students, as well as my family and friends, they often ask me one question -- in today's economically challenging world, does job security exist?

The short answer is YES. I believe that it does, but not in the traditional sense. In the old employment world that our parents and grandparents labored in, you found a good job at a good company and worked there as long as possible. As the needs of the company changed and grew, the company looked at its top performers and placed them in new roles or opportunities to help the company. 

To prepare employees for these new roles, they often sent the employee for additional training or skill development. The company managed its talent (aka its employees and their careers), and provided the talent (employee) with additional skills to grow when needed. If you performed, you were rewarded with job security, pay raises and added opportunity. If you worked hard and stayed out of trouble, ultimately you stayed at the company. You grew with it and, at the end of the day (or 40 years), the company rewarded you for your service with a handshake from the owner, a well deserved gold watch and possibly a small pension to tide you over in retirement. 

The philosophy of laborer was therefore established, "you never leave a good job or a good company. Let the company take care of you. You'll have job security."  In essence, the company was both a family, and an extended family. It provided a secure existence for its members. And, the members provided labor to make the family (company) go. The relationship was one of commitment. The company was committed to the employee and that the employee was committed to the company, as well.

Fast forward to today and that dynamic has changed. Employment is like a professional sports league. With companies functioning in the short term, looking for an immediate winner or the next superstar, the work world has been turned upside down. Employees are more like modern day economic free agents than valued family members, free to move around and to have a limited control of their own destiny. In that new paradigm, the emphasis is on the employee, not the employer to manage their job life or better said, their career and earning potential. 

The focus is not on long-term employment, long-term familial commitment, but rather on gaining skills and resources that can be used at your current company or assignment, or at a company or assignment further along the employment road. The goal for today's employees should be to identify companies that offer the employee marketable skills which have value down the employment line, such as leadership training, Six Sigma training and long term skill modules in a variety of areas.