Interesting enough, as much as I see clients who have lost their jobs, I see more who have jobs, but are just not satisfied. Since the recession of the early 90’s, employer’s have parted ways with the employee and have opted for the bottom line. And in return, the employees just no longer have the loyalty or trust in their company that they once did.
There is something else that seems to me very prevalent today and that is job dissatisfaction. Some of this is about people having two to three jobs added to their job descriptions, but some of it is finding out that where they are headed is not where they want to go.
I often look back on a résumé to see what people took in college and to see how far away from their selected major that they have drifted. Sometimes it’s a good thing. Many of my CEO’s have Psychology or Anthropology degrees. They have had a curiosity about people that somehow actualized into leading a company and negotiating between the board and senior management.
But on the other hand, there may have been a left-behind dream that is far from being actualized, and if so, that may indicate a problem. They have a job, but they do not have a career. There is a Big Difference.
We usually select what we want to do in life because of our dreams or awareness of ourselves. Later that stops whenever the pursuit of money becomes the essential estimate of one’s worth.
Even in a struggling economy, however, I find many of my clients struggling more to see what is missing in their lives. A recent press release from www.conference-board.org says that U.S. Job Satisfaction is at the lowest level in two decades.
“While one in 10 Americans is now unemployed, their working compatriots of all ages and incomes continue to grow increasingly unhappy.” Says Lynn Franco, Director of the Consumer Research Center of The Conference Board. “Though both economic boom and bust during the past two decades, our job satisfaction numbers have shown a consistent downward trend.”
I’ll offer one explanation. We are a very free people. We dare to dream. Yet we find ourselves strapped with high interest rates on credit cards and the belief that the future will take care of us – and all of a sudden realistically find – it isn’t so. We become aware of passage of time, finding ourselves in a place that we never meant to go, and all of a sudden, stopping in our tracks to appraise a life that is going in the wrong direction.
Thus, dissatisfaction. Mary Ann
