Contact Us Advertising Information Online exclusives Cover Story Buzz Feature In Case You Missed It Vote 2009 Boulderganic Fall 2009 Student Guide 2009 Boulder Weekly Sweet 16 Anniversary Boulderganic 2009 Summer Scene 2009 Email Newsletter Legal Services Best of Boulder 2009 Annual Manual 2009 Newspaper of the Future Kids Camp Guide 2009 Wedding Marketplace 09 Jobs available Student Guide 2008 Best of Boulder 2008 Annual Manual 2008 Join Our Mailing List
|
February 5-11, 2009
editorial@boulderweekly.com
Back to Letters
The upside to downsizing
by Jim Hightower
Let’s check today’s scores: Home Depot: 7,000; GM: 2,000; Sprint: 8,000; Texas Instruments: 3,400; Caterpillar: 20,000; and Pfizer: 26,000.
That’s just a few of the corporations that on a single day in the last week of January announced more than 71,000 job cuts. These came on top of 40,000 people who got the boot the week before from such brand names as Williams-Sonoma, Microsoft, Clear Channel, Intel and United Airlines. And the hemorrhaging has only begun, as our economy is expected to lose 600,000 jobs a month this year.
Fortunately, though, there are a few economic sectors that are doing extremely well. Companies that print pink slips, for example, have never seen better times. Also, economic prognosticators are in heavy demand, now grinding out a record level of inane statements about America’s job situation, including this insight from one economist: “The good news,” he proclaimed, “is it’s so bad right now that we will have a definite, noticeable recovery when it comes.” Uh-huh. Remember, he’s got a college degree and actually gets paid to say stuff like that.
But if you’re looking for a career with a solid future, you might try the layoff industry. Yes, there is such a thing. “Career transition” consultants, are hot these days, as corporate America seeks help in dumping so many employees. These consulting firms give “termination training” to corporate managers, even providing scripts for gentle ways to tell employees, “You’re fired.” Indeed, firees never hear such cold language; rather they’re informed that their position has been “made redundant.”
See, downsizing isn’t all bad. In fact, with a 75 percent increase in “career transition” work last year, downsizing could become America’s number one growth industry.
http://www.jimhightower.com
For more information on Jim Hightower's work — and to subscribe to his award-winning monthly newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown — visit www.jimhightower.com.
Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com
back to top |
| |
