Out of a Job

Over on LinkedIn, an analyst mentioned that his job was eliminated as a result of increased automation and organizational change.

As we approach Easter, I'm sure there were carpenters who lost their jobs back in the day as a result of increased automation and organizational change. Or for other reasons. It's not easy to find a job, do a job, keep a job, or create a job.

Back in the day, I gave attendees at a Shop.org session a choice. If they had to downsize one position out of the following three, with no knowledge of the skill level of the person in the job, which position would you coldly eliminate?

1. Digital Marketing Director.
2. Catalog Marketing Director.
3. Social Media Manager.

I recall maybe 10% of the audience voting for the Social Media Manager, maybe 20% voting for the Digital Marketing Director, and 70%ish voting the Catalog Marketing Director off the island. I recall a catalog professional stopping me after the presentation, stunned that his profession had so little value in the eyes of other professionals. "Don't they understand how valuable my work is?"

No, they don't understand.

Imagine being a coder, having a skill few others ever possessed, being paid more than many executives, writing the code that made AI happen ... only to lose your job to the software you wrote?

If you have opportunities for side hustles, separate projects etc., by all means, take advantage of those opportunities. When bad things happen, it's good to already have a head start on your next chapter.

ASIDE:  A marketing manager reached out, asking me to volunteer my time to go through a maze of nonsense to "apply" for a consulting arrangement. He said I was "chosen among a small group of professionals they believed in". Well, if you believe in me so much, you've certainly learned from the 5,700 posts I've written over twenty years what I stand for and you already know if I can do the job you might want to underpay me to do for you. Or you just want my approach to a problem for free (most likely outcome). Long-term, this isn't how you do a job, keep a job, or create a job. It's how you cheat your own job. Employers see through this stuff over time. It's the kind of problem that automation will ultimately solve.