Chips

Frankfurt, Germany, 5/10/10
(Originally issued on 14/6/10 - updated)

I remember telling Andy (a close friend of mine) back in the mid-90s that I wanted a permanent (meaning permanent, not temporary on a lousy salary) job. If you have the sense of security, you are more likely to turn up concentrated, and keen to do well.

If on the other hand, you have the sense that you can do your job as well as anyone, but the things that affect company policy are out of your hands, and they will fire you no matter how well you do your job, then what incentive do you have?

Unfortunately that is increasingly the world we have. The few people who have the chips can decide everything, the rest of us are like those chips – there to be gambled with. When they lose we get thrown away. There is no say, no grounds for complaint, nothing.

It has become so much about these few people gambling. They invent numerous concepts, numerous excuses.

“You need to be self-employed” they tell you, when they know large numbers of people hate selling, the fundamental basis of self-employment, and also when they know that 60% of new businesses eventually fail – either exactly because they are run by people who hate selling, or because they get squashed by the big guys.

“You should work longer hours” – as if working 16 to 18 hours a day will improve the quality of the work that you produce.

“You need to retrain on more modern technology”. Do that at your own expense some time (I will tell you that I have – from experience), check out how many employers are interested. Few to none – they want “work experience”.

“You should be prepared to move”. I have changed addresses 31 times, lived in six countries, worked in a seventh, I have done this as much as anyone. It does not improve your life (!), and anyway you cannot build the basis of a successful existence if you cannot eventually put your roots down somewhere. And the major proponents of this “mobile workforce” theory are usually university economists (invariably of the unreal conservative strain) who probably have not moved themselves in decades!