The Plight of the Employed
Perhaps the heading should read, ”The Plaint of the Employed,” but never mind. The company I work for is the target of an acquisition back in the U.K. This is not something tracked in the daily papers here, so I have to search the internet for news. It’s not imminent, but it’s not good news from my perspective. I was with Shearson when they took over Hutton, and it was less than a year before every Hutton staffer was employed elsewhere or on the street looking for work. Sure, Shearson, too, is no more, having been acquired themselves by JP Morgan (who have since merged with Chase), but that’s no consolation. Here in Sydney, the marketplace for what I do is very small, and the project I’m on is very big, which has resulted in the company taking up a large part of the available resources. If the purchase proceeds, we stand to flood the market with specialized talent, making it pretty tough all of a sudden for some of us to find work again. Still, it’s a long way off right now, so there’s time to consider options, take advantage of what I can, and prepare for what’s next. As they say, it’s easier to get a job while you’ve already got one than when you really need it. An enviable position, then, to be in, although there are some in the world who find their own position to be better still, as for example, the Dole Bludger, a self-made unemployable. I’ve been following his adventures, or lack thereof, for a few weeks, and unless he’s having us on, Meika von Samorzewski has got to be the worst whinger on the web. I’ve encountered plenty of working men and women who complain bitterly of what they do for a living, how much or how little, but I think there’s more to the Bludger’s lack of work than he’s letting on. It can’t just be residence in Tasmania or applying for jobs unsuited to his experience or expertise. In fact, I’m not sure what his skills consist of, unless it’s berating “the system” for failing to entice him into the workforce with anything other than money, or insulting working professionals for finding him an unattractive colleague. Certainly spelling and grammar are not among his strong suits. Well, it’s entertaining anyway, and helps me keep things in perspective. I think I should get some work done now.