Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jun 17, 2017 16:09:08 GMT -5
How susceptible is your job/field/industry to layoffs or becoming obsolete? We've seen a lot of jobs starting to become obsolete due to moving to other countries and/or automation. Uber is putting taxi companies out of business, retail establishments have lost more jobs than coal mines because of Amazon, and environmental regulations have all but destroyed the coal industry.
So do you anticipate your job or industry becoming obsolete in the next few decades if not sooner? If so how, and what will you do about it?
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jun 17, 2017 16:11:50 GMT -5
I don't anticipate my job becoming obsolete during my remaining career.
The public demands safe use of radioactive material and radiation producing machines and the regulations are almost never rolled back on a large scale, if anything regulations only pile on so there's always need for people who know them. As technology develops though, there are other ways of accomplishing work without ionizing radiation, so that could be a long term factor against me. But I don't anticipate it ever going away completely, at least not in my lifetime. Furthermore, I work for the government, a very stable employer.
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msventoux
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Post by msventoux on Jun 17, 2017 17:39:42 GMT -5
I don't anticipate my profession becoming obsolete. There's parts that are susceptible to automation/outsourcing, but I don't see that as being a threat at the local level.
What's more of a threat at this point is our economy. Our state is in a fiscal crisis and there's no telling how that will shake out. If a lot of our clients get hit hard, then we'll take a hit as well. Staff has already been warned that the next few years may be tough and raises may not happen and we may have to start paying a portion of our health insurance. Last years bonuses and raises this year were still generous, but the next couple of years could be interesting.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2017 21:18:56 GMT -5
My job as an English teacher is safe enough. Reading and writing are pretty essential to the educational process.
But I have watched colleagues get RIFed over the past few years who weren't in core subjects. We have a student population of about 3000. We lost our second Latin teacher. We lost our second French teacher. We lost our Chinese teacher (shared with another high school). We lost our Broadcasting program. Tenure doesn't matter with a Reduction in Force.
One of the subjects I teach (Dual Enrollment) has eliminated a teacher position because two semesters = two years of high school credit. We are definitely downsizing in sometimes subtle ways.
I'm ok. The school even gets paid (but not enough to cover my salary) by the community college for the courses I teach. I'm one of 3 people in a department of 40 who can teach this course.
But I worry about my younger colleagues. Those teachers who were RIFed all had tenure. Tenure doesn't really mean job security for life despite what the public thinks.
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justme
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Post by justme on Jun 17, 2017 21:31:56 GMT -5
I'm in finance. The industry I do it for may get hit, but every company needs finance and a huge chunk of it is universal.
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jun 17, 2017 21:43:36 GMT -5
My job as an English teacher is safe enough. Reading and writing are pretty essential to the educational process. But I have watched colleagues get RIFed over the past few years who weren't in core subjects. We have a student population of about 3000. We lost our second Latin teacher. We lost our second French teacher. We lost our Chinese teacher (shared with another high school). We lost our Broadcasting program. Tenure doesn't matter with a Reduction in Force. One of the subjects I teach (Dual Enrollment) has eliminated a teacher position because two semesters = two years of high school credit. We are definitely downsizing in sometimes subtle ways. I'm ok. The school even gets paid (but not enough to cover my salary) by the community college for the courses I teach. I'm one of 3 people in a department of 40 who can teach this course. But I worry about my younger colleagues. Those teachers who were RIFed all had tenure. Tenure doesn't really mean job security for life despite what the public thinks. Do teachers who have tenure and get RIF'ed have a hard time finding a new job in another school district because they're "experienced" and therefore expensive? My mom was a teacher who got out of the field because she couldn't find a job, but that was a long time ago.
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Jun 17, 2017 22:08:37 GMT -5
Given how understaffed we are currently, layoffs are extremely unlikely. Worst case funding scenario, we have a perpetual budget, so it can't be reduced, but declines due to inflation until we hold a vote (long overdue, and there's a state cap on increases).
I don't think libraries in general will become obsolete, but they are under pressure to reinvent themselves and their mission. The shift to electronic media has been swift and is still accelerating, but that really works in my favor as my degree is in CS rather than the MLIS, but expanding state regs are making me uneasy. I can do essentially everything (one of the pros/cons to working in a small library - no specialization, have to cover all the bases), but by state regs I'm not eligible for certain titles depending on service population numbers. So a shift to a larger library could be problematic w/o the MLIS. Given that I'm not planning on working that many years longer, it's not worth pursuing now, and certainly not cost effective.
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NastyWoman
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Post by NastyWoman on Jun 18, 2017 0:55:40 GMT -5
Well, they have a choice: they either RIF me or not. If they do, my entire department will close down if for no other reason than that I am the only one left. At this point upper management is not ready to do without, but who knows what the future brings. I'll just retire if they do. I would like to pad my savings for a few more years but I'll be fine either way.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jun 18, 2017 6:33:45 GMT -5
My industry is extremely stable and with the prevalence of e-commerce, it's booming. My specific job? Not sure. Seeing as it's just my boss and I doing the work, I doubt I'd get laid off.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jun 18, 2017 6:39:27 GMT -5
I stayed in teaching and geared all continuing education toward special needs. That saved me from being transferred to a less desirable school.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2017 8:03:06 GMT -5
My job as an English teacher is safe enough. Reading and writing are pretty essential to the educational process. But I have watched colleagues get RIFed over the past few years who weren't in core subjects. We have a student population of about 3000. We lost our second Latin teacher. We lost our second French teacher. We lost our Chinese teacher (shared with another high school). We lost our Broadcasting program. Tenure doesn't matter with a Reduction in Force. One of the subjects I teach (Dual Enrollment) has eliminated a teacher position because two semesters = two years of high school credit. We are definitely downsizing in sometimes subtle ways. I'm ok. The school even gets paid (but not enough to cover my salary) by the community college for the courses I teach. I'm one of 3 people in a department of 40 who can teach this course. But I worry about my younger colleagues. Those teachers who were RIFed all had tenure. Tenure doesn't really mean job security for life despite what the public thinks. Do teachers who have tenure and get RIF'ed have a hard time finding a new job in another school district because they're "experienced" and therefore expensive? My mom was a teacher who got out of the field because she couldn't find a job, but that was a long time ago. Not really. In Alabama, most of the teacher's salary comes from the state who allots a certain number of teaching units based on enrollment. The local system supplements (if you are lucky) that salary and adds additional units. But the local system is free to hire any certified teacher, regardless of where he/she might fall on the salary matrix, and the state will pay that teacher's salary. You don't really get that much of a pay boost because of experience. A teacher with a bachelor's degree and 0 years experience starts at $38,000 on the state's matrix. That teacher with 27+ years earns $48,000. Good schools pay more, but that's because they have $$$ to spend. So they want the experienced teachers even when they cost more. The teachers I referenced will have a hard time finding a job because of their specific fields. Many high schools don't need full-time Latin, French, Chinese, or Broadcasting teachers.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jun 18, 2017 8:50:05 GMT -5
I would think the teachers of French and Chinese could transition into the finance world easily.
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milee
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Post by milee on Jun 18, 2017 8:57:30 GMT -5
I would think the teachers of French and Chinese could transition into the finance world easily. Ehhh... not so sure about that. The technical aspects have similarities and the need for bilingual people is great, but I think the cultural shock of the different workplace would be very challenging for people whose primary work experience was in public school systems. Going from an environment of limited work hours and no linkage between performance and pay to an environment of huge OT and extensive scrutiny of work performance would be quite a change. The ones who put in the hours and did good work would be pleasantly surprised with the rewards (raises, bonuses, promotions, etc) based on performance, though.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jun 18, 2017 9:16:07 GMT -5
Plus treated better.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2017 10:26:53 GMT -5
I would think the teachers of French and Chinese could transition into the finance world easily. Ehhh... not so sure about that. The technical aspects have similarities and the need for bilingual people is great, but I think the cultural shock of the different workplace would be very challenging for people whose primary work experience was in public school systems. Going from an environment of limited work hours and no linkage between performance and pay to an environment of huge OT and extensive scrutiny of work performance would be quite a change. The ones who put in the hours and did good work would be pleasantly surprised with the rewards (raises, bonuses, promotions, etc) based on performance, though. You also have to factor in location. Bilingual here usually means English and Spanish. There's not a lot of international business going on here. You'd need to move to Atlanta. Also, the ability to speak a foreign language is just one skill. You'd need to know how to bring something else to the table to get hired. I actually know what happened to these specific people. The Latin teacher took the Praxis to get certified in another field and now teaches science. The French teacher also had an ESL degree so that is what she now teaches. The Chinese teacher relocated. The Broadcasting teacher will probably come out the best because he had several careers going on simultaneously. He had 25 years in so he retired at half his salary. He is a professional broadcaster so he does a lot of play-by-play for local sporting events. He also works part-time as a "financial adviser" with Primerica, who is on the list of companies that offer 459s, etc. to teachers in our system and others. He is going to pursue that full time.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Jun 18, 2017 10:41:46 GMT -5
Very stable.
I work for me, and someone is always going to get arrested, die, buy a house, get a divorce, argue over child custody, go bankrupt, want to sue someone.
Right now I'm doing more real estate and estates than anything else, and I'm happy with it. It that dried up, there are lots of assigned counsel cases in both criminal and family court that I can take. I'd hate it, but I've done it before and it pays the bills.
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jun 18, 2017 12:15:53 GMT -5
My industry is extremely stable and with the prevalence of e-commerce, it's booming. My specific job? Not sure. Seeing as it's just my boss and I doing the work, I doubt I'd get laid off. I thought you worked in retail in some capacity. Retail has shed a lot of jobs in the last 10 years.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jun 18, 2017 12:23:53 GMT -5
My industry is extremely stable and with the prevalence of e-commerce, it's booming. My specific job? Not sure. Seeing as it's just my boss and I doing the work, I doubt I'd get laid off. I thought you worked in retail in some capacity. Retail has shed a lot of jobs in the last 10 years. My old employer was an apparel corporation (my new employer is also kind of an apparel company), but I work in logistics/supply chain. So, yeah - pretty stable industry.
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souldoubt
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Post by souldoubt on Jun 18, 2017 12:36:42 GMT -5
My profession isn't going anywhere as one of the biggest advantages to being an accountant is that I can find work in any industry. Currently I work in the finance industry which is always changing and the company I work for is in a niche market. This market is always changing and the company is undergoing major changes that position it for long term success. That said long term success is going to depend on how both the company and industry respond to the changing needs of clients and of course how the company performs, i.e. returns. They've got some very optimistic projections for the next 3-5 years but if they realize even a fraction of those projections the company and myself assuming I get to the next level will be in a very good position. If I don't get to that next level then it's it's time for me to see what else is out there.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Jun 18, 2017 13:02:19 GMT -5
I worked for a large very stable pharma company. But after working there 20 years, they downsized the site I worked at. I could have easily transferred to NJ or Philly area, but that did not work for my personal situation.
I worked for small 25 person company for 4 years. It was not very stable, I was underpaid and took a salary cut while there.
Current job is with a large international specialty chemical company in a niche part of the company doing pharmaceutical research and manufacturing. Our site is getting a lot of investment but is losing money. Not sure how long the company will keep the site if business doesn't pick up. But the portion of the site I work at is making money.
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stillmovingforward
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Post by stillmovingforward on Jun 18, 2017 13:34:26 GMT -5
Believe it or not, I work in Manufacturing and my work/job is very stable. The company I work for is stable and, if they started to go downhill, I can easily jump to another company in my current field or go into another field but still in manufacturing. Contrary to popular belief, manufacturing is alive and well and desperate for workers and engineers to oversee the operations and troubleshoot (in the US). Even during the Recession, I always had work because companies were trying to squeeze every penny out of their product. Well, that's what manufacturing engineers with a specialty in Lean do
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Jun 18, 2017 13:35:16 GMT -5
I'm in insurance. We're not going anywhere.
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Regis
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Post by Regis on Jun 18, 2017 14:32:03 GMT -5
Feeling pretty safe in the civil engineering field.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jun 18, 2017 15:26:39 GMT -5
Believe it or not, I work in Manufacturing and my work/job is very stable. The company I work for is stable and, if they started to go downhill, I can easily jump to another company in my current field or go into another field but still in manufacturing. Contrary to popular belief, manufacturing is alive and well and desperate for workers and engineers to oversee the operations and troubleshoot (in the US). Even during the Recession, I always had work because companies were trying to squeeze every penny out of their product. Well, that's what manufacturing engineers with a specialty in Lean do Yeah I need to get that Lean/Six Sigma certificate pronto.
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stillmovingforward
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Post by stillmovingforward on Jun 18, 2017 16:34:14 GMT -5
Honestly, when I hire, I don't bother with the certificate in either of those. So many people get the certificate but still don't know what they are doing. Just be able to talk the talk, put it on your resume under 'job description' and have examples in your portfolio or during the interview. I learned all mine on the job, watching videos, and reading. It's so second nature to me now, my house is 6S'ed and I don't even realize it.
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Jun 18, 2017 16:46:35 GMT -5
I'm in healthcare and insurance, so very stable. I have a niche skillset so that if something happened and I was RIF'd, I could probably find a similar job, but as I'm over 70, I'll just retire.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Jun 19, 2017 12:03:29 GMT -5
Insurance/investing/retirement...pretty stable. Personally, I do a lot of vendor outsourcing to other companies...also fairly stable at the moment.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Jun 19, 2017 13:16:41 GMT -5
As long as physicians need to be licensed I should be secure.
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flamingo
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Post by flamingo on Jun 19, 2017 14:01:30 GMT -5
I work for the state, but in higher ed. Given my position, I'm very stable/secure. I might be taking a small vacation if my state doesn't get their act together and pass the budget soon But in the unlikely event that layoffs were to happen, I most likely would not be on that list.
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Bob Ross
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Post by Bob Ross on Jun 21, 2017 13:18:23 GMT -5
My industry (tech) is high-growth and I don't expect that to change anytime soon. As far as my specific job goes, like any job, that operates under the "blanket of illusion" of stability and could go at any time for any reason, especially if they found out what I did to the men's bathroom.
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