Mindy Thomas

CAREER CHAT

AMERICAN WORKERS DO HARD TIME

American Workers Do Hard Time

Every time I hear another story about employee abuse in corporate America or even small companies, I get a knot in my stomach. These stories surface daily in my work as a career counselor and resume writer. I often wonder how the American workers are supposed to sleep through the night when they live in fear . . . day after day of supervisors that mistreat them, organizations that lie to them and then give them the “boot.” Moreover, what about the employers that are taking advantage of the masses by paying the lowest wage possible? When will it stop?

I have to tell you that when I read a recent article in the Wall Street Journal about the “defectors,” my heart sang. I exhaled and felt supremely proud of the workers who are now able to break free of the noose around their neck. In the article titled “Keeping Overqualifieds on Board – Recruiters Say Desperate Workers in a Down Economy Now Seek Greener Pastures,” it talks about workers defecting for greener pastures. They are actually leaving the employers who hired them and paid them horrendous salaries during the darkest time of the recession. “Yay! Hip Hip Hooray!” I said to myself, “Bring it on and God Bless those who are able to say “I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore.”

Yes, there are many Americans who are doing hard time. Just yesterday, I heard another one that woke me up and summoned that empty feeling inside me once again.

A manufacturing executive was told he was doing a great job . . . just super. Three weeks later, he was let go with no reason. What’s worse is that he was so stunned, he couldn’t even ask why he was being let go. He landed in the hospital for stress and spent nearly a week trying to regroup. Every day he woke up with the nightmare of what the heck happened and how could the boss have handled the situation the way he did.

These are certainly desperate times for many, but there is hope and light at the end of the tunnel. Even if you are not in this state of mind, one thing is for sure . . . you must “act as if” and believe that hope exists for you.

American employees might be suffering psychologically right now, but I am seeing them fight tooth and nail to make it. There are many people who are landing in better jobs or obtaining their first job in many months. There are others that are getting up and out of jobs they hate with employers that mistreat them. Still, there are others that are leaving organizations that don’t support their values systems. Most of all, they are all creating their destiny by taking action. They are saying to themselves, “there is no option to fail.” And, I am going to pull out all the stops. Now. I am not waiting around for the “upturn” in the economy.

Maybe one of the things we all need to ask ourselves right now is . . . What could we be doing to open up more possibilities for our career? Are we really working every angle right now to change our current reality? Are there other actions we could possibly be doing to make a difference in creating a new pathway for something better?

Next time, we’ll cover the The Ultimate Success Formula that highly successful individuals use . . . either consciously or unconsciously to get what they want.

Your Career is Your Business. Isn’t it Time For You to Manage it Like a CEO?

Please call Professional Career Counselor Mindy Thomas, MS, CPRW, CLC, CJC, CJDC directly at 610.937.5632 or send us a message. Our offices are located in suburban Philadelphia at 221 North Olive Street in Media, PA, close to Wilmington DE, NYC and Washington DC.