Today, the Wall St Journal has an interview with Adecco Staffing Firm CEO Tig Gilliam, he forecasts that temporary works are here to stay. Among the reasons he sites are increased productivity with fewer workers and company reluctance to go through massive layoffs again.
Reading through this interview made me think of the many changes companies and employee’s are dealing with in this new economy. Gilliam’s forecasting is only one spotlight on the changing nature of work at American corporations. If companies are seriously considering hiring temporaries for professional positions in IT, healthcare and finance, you as a potential temporary employee need to start thinking about how you can invest in yourself.
You may think that you will never be in the position of being a temporary employee, I would say you need to get your head out of the sand. The last three years have highlighted the fact that anyone can be laid off, have their position eliminated, etc;
Even for employee’s that are lucky to remain at large, stable companies, many of these companies are slashing training and development budgets. One person I’ve talked to recently told me that her employee training budget of $2,000 for each team member has been sliced to $500. Fewer and fewer companies are rolling out large training programs like, Apple University.
This seems counter intuitive to me and frankly I think this is a point where HR needs to stand up and make reasoned, principled business cases for training programs but that is another topic for another day.
My advice to you, fellow professionals, is to get your head out of the sand and start investing in yourself. Acknowledge that you may not have seen it yet, but the days of getting your company to pay for a $2,000 conference may be waning except for those at the highest levels in your company. Start thinking about where you want your career to go and work on creating your own career path, not many companies are going to have the time and budget to create one for you.
In other words, don’t sit at your desk with your head down and assume it will all take care of itself. Regardless if you are a “permanent”(I know, I know, no one has “permanent” employment) employee or a temporary employee you need to set aside time and money to invest in yourself. No one else is going to do it or care as much as you will.
