Recession left "walking wounded" workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62F0JM20100316

Nick Zieminski
NEW YORK
Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:04pm EDT

(Reuters) - Many workers around the world have given up hopes of advancing in their jobs, but the bad economy is keeping them from finding new ones.

U.S. | Lifestyle

Such "walking wounded" workers are increasingly exchanging ambition for job stability, which now even trumps pay as a consideration, according to a biennial survey by the human resources consultancy Towers Watson Co.

People are becoming "nesters," who prefer to stay in one career or with one employer for their entire career.

The report highlights a disconnect between what such "nesters" want and the growing trends that are shaping the global workforce: an increasing emphasis on flexible staff and short-term employment, more offshoring and part-time work.

"People are increasingly wanting things that are harder to get," said Max Caldwell, a leader of Towers Watson's talent and reward business. "They'd like to settle into one or two companies for life. What people want is security, stability and a long-term employment relationship, (which are) increasingly out of reach."

Globally, a third of workers prefer to work for one organization their whole life, according to the study, while another third want to work for just two or three employers.

That preference for "nesting" reflects anxiety about jobs prospects and about factors like healthcare costs and retirement planning, expenses that are increasingly being shifted onto workers rather than carried by employers.

In the United States, almost twice as many workers expect continued deterioration in the jobs picture as those who expect improvement. A majority -- 51 percent -- say there are no career advancement opportunities at their jobs, but nonetheless 81 percent are not actively looking for a new position.

Among the study's other findings:

* 30 percent of U.S. workers plan to work past age 70.

* About half of U.S. workers feel unprepared for planning or managing their retirement.

* 56 percent of U.S. workers expect little change in the job market this year.

* Workers in developing economies like India and China are far more willing to jump from job to job than their counterparts in countries like Germany and the United States.

FULL story at link.

[Lerkfish]

1. how is that worse than being unemployed?

we're the real walking wounded.

[xultar]

5. True but knowing you are stuck and can't move is pretty hard on the psych as well...i don't

think be littling someone's pain in this situation is helpful. we are all hurting the hurt maybe different but we are all hurting none the less.

[Lerkfish]

10. wasn't belittling someone else's pain, just saying put it in perspective.

[Gaedel]

9. Walking wounded

"Walking wounded" refers to the guys that can walk back to the medical aid station.

"Litter cases" have to be transported.

The analogy would be that the unemployed are the "litter cases".

[fasttense]

2. I have started wondering if my decision to have children was such a wise choice.

I thought my children would have a better life than me. I thought they would have opportunities I didn't have because my family was so poor. I thought the world would be better for them. I thought their world would be peaceful and economically prosperous.

I thought wrong. I'm sorry kids.

[FarCenter]

4. It's been obvious that the standard of living for the 300 million in the US will go down

as the other 7000 million people in the world struggle to get a bigger piece of the pie.

[juno jones]

3. Yeah, I would like some stability, like

not having to worry about being capriciously fired for some dumb shit.

And I will have to work past 70 if I live that long, because the $300 a month pittance from SS ain't gonna cover cat food, let alone vodka and cigs in my old age.


This article is right...for all the wrong reasons.

[Javaman]

6. Nothing new, I have always planned on dying at my desk.

I understood this once ray-gun started fucking with things.

[EC]

7. This is what the big corps want

makes a nice pliable work force...too afraid to complain or take days off...will work in unsafe conditions, anything just to keep a job...

[FarCenter]

8. You're competing with 2 billion people who'll work all day for enough gruel to live to tomorrow