#opportunity #60Minutes #immigrants #JobsLost
It’s hard to believe that a company can tell a worker, who has been on the job there for, say, 20 years and has given his life to that company, that he will be laid off.
It’s harder to believe that same company would insult that same person by telling him that he CAN’T leave until he trains his replacement – an immigrant, who will make a good bit less than he did, to do the same work. If he leaves early in disgust, he loses his severance package.
The CBS News TV show “60 Minutes” reported on this practice on its March 19, 2017, edition. The report focused on groups of technology workers at various companies who are facing this.
The report talks about immigrants getting a special H-1B visa to come over here to do specially skilled jobs that could not be filled by Americans. But, as any law, some will find a way to exploit it. Companies are doing just that, the report says.
We can debate for hours what Congress and the president should do about immigration. But this report is not about low-skilled manual laborers. This is about highly skilled, and relatively highly paid, American workers who have needed skills, yet are getting kicked in the teeth.
It’s worse than digging one’s own grave, a worker told correspondent Bill Whitaker.
So, let’s break this down. If you have skills that are in demand, and believe you will never lose your job, think again.
If you believe the immigration problems in the U.S. are driven solely by immigrants, think again. This is a business-driven problem. There can be no reason this is going on, other than companies wanting to make or save money, no matter who is affected. These companies have ensured through lobbying that government isn’t going to mess with what they are doing.
So, logically, one could think, why are these immigrants, who obviously have skills they could parlay in their own country, coming here and agreeing to work for that much less in American dollars? It’s easy to presume that they are doing it because they are still making more than they would in any other country.
That’s may be true, but there may be another reason, and it has nothing to do with doing anyone any harm. It’s been said that one in 10 people who come to the United States from elsewhere become millionaires. That’s an astounding statistic. So these highly skilled folks may see potential opportunity to get rich by, say, inventing something, that they may not have in their home countries.
To back that up, Thomas Heath, in The Washington Post, reports that in Forbes Magazine’s annual list of the 400 richest Americans, a record 42 of them are immigrants from 21 countries. Heath’s story was also published in the March 20, 2017, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The fact that immigrants would make less than their American predecessors did, in the first job that brought them to the U.S., is insignificant to them. The OPPORTUNITY to be in the United States, and to do something great, is what drives them.
There is good news in all this for those displaced, highly skilled American workers. There are many vehicles out there for them to create their own, potentially lucrative, income, too. They may not know about them, or they may even believe that they cannot do what would be asked of them. Yet, they can potentially be not just financially stable, but potentially financially free, without that job they lost.
Such vehicles are available to anyone, regardless of race, education or background. To check out one of the best, message me.
In sum, immigrants WILL come, when they see opportunity. Companies will take advantage of every loophole in every law to improve their bottom lines. As a worker, there is little you can do about it. Your future is in your hands, no matter what happens to you.
Even if laws are changed, new loopholes will be created. The lesson here: ways to potentially fire the boss before he fires you are out there. Don’t be afraid to look for them, and look at them. You never know what someone, either already in your life or who will come into your life, may have his hands on. It could be a lifesaver for you.
As our parents used to tell us when we approached a railroad crossing that didn’t have lights or an arm that came down to block traffic when a train was coming: stop, look and listen. You never know when, or how or from whom, your opportunity will come.
Peter
Author Archives: pbilodeau01
HOW HARD IS IT FOR YOU TO LEAVE WORK?
#work #All-ConsumingJob #FamilyFriends #fun
You don’t work an eight-hour day.
You don’t know when to leave the office.
Even when you leave, work goes home with you.
Perhaps you’ve made a new year’s resolution to spend more time with family, friends and other people or things that give you pleasure.
But, you feel you can’t.
There’s a crisis at work you have to deal with.
Laura Petrecca discussed this topic in a Jan. 16, 2017, article in USA Today. Here are some figures quoted in the article:
• 60 percent of people have dreamed about something at work;
• 49 percent check work e-mail after work hours;
• 46 percent work during non-business hours;
• 44 percent are up at night thinking about work;
• 15 percent gave up vacation days.
Here’s another stat: the average person in Europe works about 19 percent less than the average American. Thus U.S. workers put in 25 percent more hours than Europeans, according to a study by a group of economists, quoted in an article by Ben Steverman for Bloomberg News. The article was published March 13, 2017, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
You may know your job is eating you alive, but you fear that if you don’t put in the extra effort, you may be replaced.
News flash: you may be laid off regardless of how well you’ve performed, or how much extra effort you’ve put in.
“There is pressure globally … to do more with less,” Petrecca’s article quotes Patrick Kulesa, director of employee research at Willis Towers Watson.
So what does one do to bring sanity back into his or her life? One way is to just stop working when you get home. Reserve your home space strictly for family, friends and pleasurable activities.
If you have an after-hours crisis at work that requires immediate attention, deal with it at work, so you can go home with a clean slate.
Or, create a Plan B for earning money in what spare time you have, so you can eventually kiss the pressure cooker goodbye. There are many such ways to do that. To learn about one of the best, message me.
Instantaneous communication has become both a blessing and a curse. Take advantage of its blessing to give you pleasure, and pay less attention to the curse that allows work to follow you home.
In short, give yourself a break. Know that no matter what you do, you are not indispensable at work. Know that your boss will not hesitate to let you go if it makes his numbers look good, regardless of the effort you’ve put in.
Leave work at work. Delegate more of what you do, if you can. If you are good at what you do, look for other options if your situation shows no end in sight.
There’s only one you. You deserve to engage in the pleasure of family, friends and enjoyable activities. Don’t let a job deprive you of that.
It’s OK to enjoy your work, but it should not control you, or keep you from other things. No matter what happens at work, learn to live well.
Peter
STORYTELLING: THE BEGINNING OF BUILDING A BRAND
#storytelling #BuildYourBrand #EverybodyHasAStory
So you are just a working stiff. You don’t need to worry about building a brand.
In fact, we probably all engage in some form of brand-building no matter where we are in life. We build ourselves into the person we want to be, which, in essence, is building your own brand.
Adrienne Weiss and Greg Weiss talk about three breakthrough secrets in their little book, “Brand Buzz.” Their secrets, the book says, are storytelling, club making and country building.
For those who are not professional marketers, we’ll focus on storytelling.
The art of telling one’s story has really come into vogue. We used to compile resumes with facts – what we did, when we did it, what titles we’d held etc. But lots of recruiting and human resources experts today encourage applicants to include stories (short ones, preferably) in their resumes.
A job title may have meant something to you, and those who worked with you, but it means very little to the prospective employer, whose organization probably has different titles for different positions.
So, the experts advise to tell a story about your experience at your past employer. For example, tell what action you may have taken to save the company money, or to boost productivity. Be as specific as you can, i.e. “Because I did this, our department was able to save the equivalent of 30 percent of its budget. “
OK, admittedly some working stiffs can’t say that. Sometimes, you have to tailor your story to what you did. Maybe you can highlight your attendance record. “I took only three sick days in my five years at the company,” would be an example.
Or, “On most days, I reported to work early and left after my shift was over. I never left a task undone for the next shift.”
Sometimes, we have to think about our story before we tell it. Anyone can make widgets, but could anyone do it with the speed and quality that you can?
These days, too, stories become more important. Employers don’t often take the time to call references. Or, if they do, the reference may be under orders to say only that you worked there, from date X to date Y, for fear of a lawsuit or some other type of retaliation.
In other words, you have to blow your own horn by telling your own story.
How one casts a story is as important as the facts in the story. You can spell out the results of your actions with dramatic flair, instead of listing a bunch of boring tasks that you had accomplished.
So, after reading this, do you still believe you don’t have a story to tell?
Are you still in search of that vehicle that will give you a great story? If you’d like to hear about one of the best vehicles to create a great, potentially very prosperous story, message me. Even the most ordinary of working stiffs can potentially not only create a great story, and the resulting potential prosperity, but help others do the same.
Remember, facts ARE important. You want your story to be TRUE. But how you incorporate the facts of your career into a great story can help you build that personal brand that is YOU. It’s not a matter of modesty. Though we love to have other people tell our story, no one can tell your story as well as you.
So, shout it from the rooftops. Tell your story with pride. Impress those prospective employers, customers etc. If you need help crafting your story, message me.
The worst stories are the ones that are never told.
Peter
FLYING TAXIS IN DUBAI
#FlyingTaxis #DriverlessVehicles #drones #drivers
If you are old enough to remember, there was a cartoon series in the 1960s called “The Jetsons,” a tale of what the future may look like.
“Cars” flew through space.
In Dubai, commuters in The United Arab Emirates may soon climb aboard automated, driverless taxis, soaring over busy streets and past the desert city’s gleaming skyscrapers at the push of a button, writes Russell Goldman in The New York Times.
The article was published in the Feb. 20, 2017, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
USA Today has also written about tests for driverless big-rig trucks.
The flying taxis will be capable of carrying a single rider and a small suitcase, Goldman writes. So, that probably means a group cannot pool resources for a taxi fare.
The taxi is an eight-rotor drone made by the Chinese firm Ehang, writes Goldman. It has flown test runs past the Burj Al Arab, Dubai’s iconic, sail-shaped skyscraper.
It can fly up to 31 miles, or about 30 minutes, on a single battery charge. Passengers can weigh up to 220 pounds, Goldman writes.
Let’s think about this for a minute. If you live in a populated area, with lots of traffic, you may someday be able to fly over that traffic, if this concept proves sustainable.
Air travel will be redefined. Would car travel become obsolete?
There is much else to ponder. What happens to the many folks who now drive for a living? Will ALL transportation become driverless?
When one is disabled, or too old to drive, will he or she own a driverless vehicle and not miss a transportation beat?
What about those who fly, sail and otherwise transport for a living?
Will all transportation be changed?
Perhaps those who make their living moving people and things about would be wise to find a Plan B to make money. The technology, therefore the trend, won’t be halted. The good news here is that if you fit that description, there’s time to plan. The technology won’t be commonplace tomorrow.
There are many good, Plan B options available. To check out one of the best, message me.
Technology alters life in good and bad ways. Competing rental car companies at Logan Airport in Boston decided to set up a common shuttle service to and from the terminals, stopping at each rental car base, instead of each company having its own drivers. The move saved money, and lessened traffic jams around the airport, but a lot of good drivers lost their jobs.
Now, imagine every airport doing the same thing, with driverless buses, cabs etc. Even Uber and Lyft are talking about driverless vehicles.
So what will flying taxis, driverless vehicles of all types, do for your life? That might depend on how you make your living now.
It might make sense to visualize that eventuality, and plan accordingly.
Peter
THE RIGHT OF IGNORANCE
#truth #facts #opinion
Here’s a test: have you ever talked with anyone who passionately asserted that something was correct, when it clearly was not?
Perhaps we all have. Washington Post columnist George F. Will quoted Tom Nichols, professor at the U.S. Naval War College and the Harvard Extension School as calling it “a storm of outraged ego.”
Will, whose column on the subject was published in the Jan. 29, 2017, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also quotes Nichols, who wrote an article in The Chronicle Review on the matter, as saying there is an increasing phenomenon among college students who “take correction as an insult.”
Nichols writes, as quoted in Will’s column, that the students have been taught to regard themselves as peers of their teachers.
“College, in an earlier time, was supposed to be an uncomfortable experience because growth is always a challenge,” Will quotes Nichols. It is supposed to replace youthful simplicities with adult complexities, Will writes.
Today, according to Will, “A” is the most commonly awarded grade, given 30 percent more frequently than in 1960.
“Unearned praise and hollow success build a fragile arrogance in students that can lead them to lash out at the first teacher or employer who dispels that illusion, a habit that carries over into resistance to believe anything inconvenient or challenging in adulthood,” Will quotes Nichols.
We all probably know people with whom discussions are akin to talking to walls. No matter the correct facts, they’ll believe what they believe.
Sometimes, people gain leadership positions while completely oblivious to the truth.
The moral here is that we should embrace truth, no matter what it reveals. We should form opinions based on truth, rather than some alternative to truth.
That isn’t to say that we can’t have faith. Faith, by definition, is believing something to be true that has not been proved so. Faith can lead one to the truth.
But we must guard against treating truth as a matter of opinion. There’s nothing wrong with an opinion based on truth, but there is much wrong with truth based on opinion.
Do you know someone who seeks real education, is willing to be coached by others who clearly know more than they do and who is in search of something that might give them the financial prosperity they want? If you know such a person, have him or her message me.
Meanwhile, always search for the truth. It may present itself in ways you might not expect. When someone tells you something is true, verify it as best you can. Read about it from reliable publications. Don’t necessarily compare it to what you believe is true. Show yourself whether it is true, or not.
Shun arrogance. Allow yourself to learn. Alter your opinions if you must, but always base what you believe on what is true.
Truth may or may not set you free, but something other than the truth definitely will not.
Peter
SOCIAL EROSION: COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS DECLINING
#SocialInstitutions #churches #CommunityServiceClubs
Some may not remember a few decades ago, when labor unions were not only strong, but one of the many fibers that brought communities together.
During that time, more people attended church, community service clubs such as the Lions or Rotary were flourishing, two-parent families were the norm etc.
Bob Davis and Gary Fields discussed this social erosion in a Sept. 16, 2016, article in The Wall Street Journal.
In those decades past, the union hall was the place to be in many blue-collar towns.
Today, as union membership is declining along with job security of any sort, we see the reaction of those affected by this decline. They are looking for someone, or something, to save them, and take the country back to that time.
Technology advances will not allow it.
But the question is not who will save those disaffected by technological change and lack of job security. The question becomes who, or what, folks can turn to who have had their lives changed forever, if not for better.
Some community institutions are still around, and not all have seen membership decline.
Technology has also given us social media, but social media, though a fine creation, is no substitute for in-person interaction.
As life changes, one must look at not only what is GOOD about his life, he must be open to find ways to combat the life changes the modern world has wrought.
If you had a good job that’s gone away, and have either had to take a job that is less rewarding or have not been able to find a suitable job at all, the answer is to look for ways other than a traditional W-2 job to make money. Easier said than done? Perhaps not. Message me to find out more.
Getting back to basics, one must check his bad attitude at the door, and not reclaim it as he exits.
There is so much good in the world today, and so many reasons to be thankful, to have faith, enthusiasm and optimism.
If you think you can find those things by reconnecting with some of the older institutions in your community, by all means, go for it.
If you think you can find those things by hanging around different people – you can still have your friends, even if they don’t inspire you – by all means look for those different people. There’s no telling to what, or to whom, they could introduce you.
Looking for that one person who is going to change the world by bringing things back to the way they were is a futile exercise. However, looking for that one person who is going to change YOUR life, who will make YOUR life better, can not only be productive, but also can be very fulfilling.
In short, being optimistic, enthusiastic, open and happy can not only bring you joy, it very well could bring you success. Plus, it’s certainly better to be happy, even if you have to work at being happy, than being miserable.
Go for happy.
Peter
SIMPLICITY CAN BE DIFFICULT
#simplicity #multitask #organize
We all strive to have simple lives.
Yet, we do more each to complicate our lives than we probably need to.
Sure, your employer wants you to do as many things as possible. Your children make many demands on you. You feel the need to keep as many people in your lives happy as possible.
Joe Calloway discusses how to de-clutter your life in his book, “Keep It Simple: Unclutter Your Mind to Uncomplicate Your Life.”
The main point of the book is that those who focus their lives on what’s most important, spend the most time on the activities that will bring the most success, will have great lives.
We all know this intellectually, but still, we bring in clutter. We seem to find the hard way to do something, or we spend our time doing things we should delegate to others.
Calloway quotes the great folk singer and songwriter Pete Seeger as saying, “Any darn fool can make something complex; it takes a genius to make something simple.”
What can you do to simplify your life? First, examine what you spend your time on. Then, determine how important those tasks are. Once you’ve determined the important tasks, figure out ways to make those tasks take less time. Or, figure out that, though those tasks might be important, are YOU the one that needs to do them?
Darren Hardy, entrepreneur and former editor and publisher of Success magazine, once told of a conversation he had with Joel Osteen, the globally recognized minister. Hardy said Osteen figured out that the most important thing he should spend his time on is the 20-minute sermon he will give on Sunday.
Those 20 minutes will determine how successful he is. Therefore, according to Hardy, he spends most of his time on crafting what he is going to say, how he’s going to say it etc., and delegates most everything else to others.
For Osteen, it’s simple. Success is in the sermon.
So, what is success for you? Over the years, we’ve heard stories about how we must multitask. We must juggle many things at once to be successful. Now, we read that most successful people devote the lion’s share of their time to the one or two things that will make them successful.
Rather than organize, prioritize.
If you have activities and tasks that take time and energy away from the one or two activities you need to focus on for success, then eliminate and delegate.
An example might be cooking. We all know that, for most of us, if we want to eat, we must cook, or go broke eating out. Eating is certainly important, but rather than cooking once and eating once, how about cooking once and eating multiple meals over a week. Some meals are even better when the ingredients and flavors have melded for a few days after preparation.
Some of us would love to simplify our lives, but don’t know what we need to do to be successful. There are a number of ways out there to find success that you may not know about or might be afraid to check out. To hear about one of the best, message me. You’ll learn a very simple way to improve your financial life.
But to improve life in general, focus on the few things that are very important to you, i.e. family, faith and future. If your boss gives you many tasks, find ways to do them in minimal amounts of time. Spend some time doing things that will benefit your family, ensure your future and bolster whatever faith you have.
Simplicity may be difficult, but, if you think about it, it’s not complicated.
Peter
THE RIGHT THING? THE FOUR-WAY TEST
#RotaryInternational #4WayTest #FourWayTest #DoTheRightThing
Do you always do the right thing?
Well, no one is perfect, and the “right thing” might be debatable. What you consider the “right thing,” may not be what your friend or neighbor believes is the ”right thing.”
Rotary International uses a Four-Way Test of things its members think, do or say to determine what “the right thing” is.
• First, is it the truth?
• Second, is it fair to all concerned?
• Third, will it help build good will and better friendships?
• Fourth, is it beneficial to all concerned?
If you use that test, you probably will do the right thing most of the time.
On the first test, we find that “truth” is also a matter of debate. Facts are usually not debatable, but we apparently live in an age of “fake news” and “alternative facts” that create debate of truth.
Would you change your opinion of something, or someone, if facts changed?
Would you cling to your beliefs in the face of contrary facts, or are “facts” simply what you believe them to be?
The second test involves fairness. Again, fairness is often debatable in this era of whatever happens to you is essentially your fault.
Why should someone else help you out of your jam, when you got yourself into the jam in the first place?
Rotary prides itself in helping those in a jam, because not all jams are self-created. The pursuit of fairness is never ending, and we must decide what is fair to all concerned.
The third test involves building relationships. Relationships require work, and some relationships require more work than others. Whatever relationships you try to build, be they business or personal, build them with the other people in mind. If you think of others above self, you should be well on your way toward doing the right thing.
The fourth test involves benefits. We are taught that it’s a dog-eat-dog world, with winners and losers. This test aims to achieve win-win situations in every encounter. As John Maxwell and other leadership experts advocate, try to add value to someone else every day. If you do that, you’ll be well on your way toward doing the right thing.
So, perhaps you are looking for a vehicle that will enable you to do the right thing for others, while at the same time do the right thing for you.
There are many such vehicles out there. To learn about one of the best, message me.
In short, learn to find and embrace undisputed truth, rather than the alternative. Look to do things that are fair to you and others. Work at building solid relationships. And do things that will benefit not just you, but others, too.
The right thing, truth and fairness should not be debatable concepts. They should be obvious and absolute. It’s best not to let anyone try to tell or show you otherwise.
Peter
BETTER TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART THAN SOMEONE ELSE’S
#FollowYourHeart #dreams #MeaningfulLife
“Following our hearts may involve quieting other voices that may want us to follow THEIR dream.”
So writes John Izzo in his little book, “5 Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die: The Key To Living a Happy and Meaningful Life.”
Izzo interviewed lots of people at various stages in their lives, to determine what their true meaning of life was.
Not only do people live differently, they die differently, Izzo learned.
“Some people end their lives with deep satisfaction and few regrets,” he writes. “Others die with bitterness or with sad resignation at the life they might have lived.”
In the book, he also urges people to give more than they take.
We all pursue life in different ways. Many of us have gotten advice from our parents to work hard, keep our noses clean and crave security.
Security, in the employment and financial world, is becoming more elusive. A job we thought might be there until we retire suddenly is not. Benefits we thought we would get throughout our work life might suddenly be taken away. Promises may be suddenly broken.
Circumstances will hit you, but they shouldn’t define you. And, a setback here or there should not keep you from pursuing YOUR dream. Remember that when you work for someone, you are helping him or her pursue HIS OR HER dream, which may or may not be in sync with pursuing yours.
If we want to, we can turn bad situations into good, and pursue our dreams. Have you ever been told to quit dreaming, that what you dream for yourself is not realistically achievable? Have you ever been told to stay with the tried and true, for security’s sake?
The tried and true may no longer exist, or may be temporary, or may soon go away. What then?
Be open to looking for other ways to achieve your dream. Be open to looking for other ways to help others achieve their dreams.
If you are, you may be able to deal with setbacks not only more easily, but with a smile.
What are those other ways to achieve your dream? There are many, but to learn about one of the best, message me. Learn how ordinary people with the courage to look for another way not only found it, but are thriving because of it.
Despite what others may tell you, dreaming is not only healthy, it’s encouraged.
It’s certainly OK to work for someone else while you pursue your dreams. If you do, live each day with purpose, and plan for the day that you can do what you want. For the courageous, that day will come sooner rather than later.
Izzo’s interviewees talked about taking risks. While we may have been told to avoid risks, those who take risks generally achieve their dreams sooner. Besides, in today’s climate, taking risks is often necessary to survive. Escaping one’s comfort zone may be the only alternative for many.
So, have courage. Take risks. Take a look at an idea you may be inclined to avoid. You could see a whole new world, and your dreams may be lived sooner rather than later.
Peter
MISERY QUOTIENT UP? NOT WHEN YOU CHECK IT OUT
#misery #poverty #optimism
If you believe that the world is a mess, with billions of people locked in inescapable cycles of war, famine and poverty, with more children than ever dying from hunger, disease and violence, to borrow from New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof, think again.
Kristof writes that the number of people living in extreme poverty, defined as $1.90 per person per day, has fallen by 50 percent in two decades. The number of small children dying has fallen by about the same proportion, Kristof writes. His column on this subject was published Sept. 29, 2016, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Meanwhile, back in America, poverty is a thing of the past for 3.5 million Americans, writes Patricia Cohen, also of the New York Times. Her article was published a few days earlier in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Cohen uses the example of Alex Caicedo, who went from working a series of odd jobs and watching his 1984 Chevy Nova cough its last breaths, to becoming an assistant manager at a pizzeria in Gaithersburg, Md., with an annual salary of $40,000.
His salary may not look like much, but it enabled Caicedo to move his wife and children out of his mother-in-law’s house and into their own place, Cohen writes.
What we see on the news makes us think that the whole world is in misery. But, as Kristof points out, the media may not be seeing all the good that is happening.
Certainly, there are places in the world where misery is in large supply. But these figures indicate that on a global scale, things seem to be getting better.
“It all came together at the same time,” Cohen quotes Diane Swonk, an independent business economist in Chicago. “Lots of employment and wage gains, particularly in the lowest-paying end of the jobs spectrum, combined with minimum-wage increases that started to hit some very large population areas,” Cohen quotes Swonk.
Overall, 2.9 million more jobs were created from 2014 to 2015, helping millions cross over into the ranks of regular wage earners, Cohen writes.
Meanwhile, on a global scale, as recently as 1981, 44 percent of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty, Kristof writes. Now, that share is believed to be 10 percent, and falling. “This is the best story in the world today,” Kristof quotes Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank.
Still, you might not believe that the world isn’t going to Hades in a hand basket.
And, you might not believe these numbers, because you are not seeing that kind of progress in your life.
Perhaps you think you should just cocoon yourself and get away from it all.
Well, perhaps you should look at what is good in your life, change what you need to change and start seeing the progress others perhaps less fortunate than you are seeing. If you are looking for a vehicle to help you with that change, message me.
Otherwise, these facts would indicate that the country and the world have seen a breakthrough. We all should be optimistic that things will continue to get better, not worse. We all should believe that we can make our own difference in not only our lives, but in the lives of others.
You’ll be much happier if you lose the attitude of misery, and carry on with an attitude of progress and optimism.
Peter