Freedom is Knowledge

DownSized

"Downsized...finding that necessity is the mother of invention" - Webmaster

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A company's annual gross sales vs. its employee head count can be used as a yard stick to measure the health of its business. By decreasing these employees, a company can quickly improve its bottom line. For example, if a small company has 50 employees and one million dollars in annual gross sales, its gross sales per head count is $20,000. If it can keep the gross sales at one million dollars while reducing the head count by 20% (10 employees), the new gross sales per head is now up to $25,000, or a whopping 25% increase. If its stockholders are using this simple formula as a yard stick, a CEO's decision to downsize can look smart at their next meeting.

Dozens of fancy corporate names--like "smart-sizing" and "right-sizing"--have been created to try to soften this action by management, but the most common one is still simply called downsizing.

For the individual being downsized, it can seem like the end of the world but it is not--in fact it can be the beginning of a new one. In Samuel N. Ray's book Job Hunting After 50, Strategy for Success, he notes that one of the ways to survive a downsizing is to redefine work. There are many options to the traditional employment in a corporation. These can apply to workers over or under 50.

• Part-time Work: Part-time work is not necessarily traditional part-time work. Part-time work can also be defined as job sharing with other coworkers. Be creative when considering other job opportunities.
• Self-Employment: If you are an expert in your field, you can sub-contract or do consultant work for other companies. Be sure to research the competition and develop a unique marketing angle to sell your service. And you need to be highly self-motivated.
• Executive Temporary Work: Temp companies like Manpower now offer downsized executives the opportunity to work in 3-6 month positions at a client's location in the United States. Once the work is completed, the executive is free to seek other similar temporary positions.
• Starting a new business: The U. S. Government sponsors experimental programs, one being the SEA Program (Self-Employment Assistance) from the Department of Labor, and still offered in some states. A program with the same name may also be available in Canada. If you are receiving unemployment, you may qualify for an innovative retraining program like the SEA Program, which would be coordinated with the U.S. Small Business Administration (USSBA) and individual state business development career centers.
• Turning Hobbies into a source of income: Hobbies in areas from ceramics to computers blossom if you find a niche for your service/product in the marketplace. With the communication potential of the web at your fingertips, anything is possible. That is how this site started, helping others to find jobs.
• Volunteer work: Have you ever been to North Conway, New Hampshire? If you have, you know they run a railroad line for most of the year and need volunteers year round to rebuild steam engines and railway cars. Just one of thousands of opportunites that are out there. Go to our College Graduates page and check out a link that will take you to cool jobs at the Cool Jobs Web site.
• Relocating: Be open to opportunities outside your current geographic area. It may lead back to your area via a regional position that reports to the company's headquarters.
• Returning to college/advanced course work: Bringing your technical/professional skills up to today's standards may help you find a new career.

But there's no guarantee you can compete with the skills of someone graduating from college, ready to roll with all the new software and hardware configurations. Therefore, research with friends and associates who are involved in your industry to see if taking new graduate studies will resolve your job search. In addition, check out the CollegeBound Network for schools where you can investigate advancing your skills.

Samuel N Ray's book reminds us of a study released back in 1989 concerning the perception of corporations and older workers. While corporations perceived older workers very positively, they associated negative characteristics with the age group. Corporations were concerned that older workers were more easily intimidated by newer technologies, had less physical agility, lessened their desire to get ahead and were not educated with newer concepts. Knowing these factors can help you negotiate through the choppy waters of finding employment after being downsized.

We had contacted our local New Jersey congressman two years ago to consider an idea for the federal government to reimburse companies for the first ninety days of an older employee's entrance probation (anyone over 50.) This would give acompany an incentive to consider the more experienced and loyal part of the American workforce. Putting someone back to work would then repay the goverment for its investiment in them in the form of payroll taxes. But it became so difficult to commicate with this elected official (R) in Morristown, NJ, we simply had to give up noting to be sure not to vote for him in the next election.

However, the keyword in finding work (your own or from someone else) is to NETWORK, NETWORK, and NETWORK. In addition to networking, you will need to research information related to your goals and career objectives including the companies you would like to work for. As mentioned before on this site, there is no better place to research companies than at Hoovers.com. For a reasonable annual fee, you will find Hoover's a pot of gold when searching for company overviews, their history and financial statement, their competition, and their key personnel including company phone number, e-mail, Web site, and snail-mail address.

In addition to Hoover's, you will also find multiple sites below that will help to start you off on the right foot in researching for your next job. Good luck, and good job hunting.

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