Category Archives: Uncategorized

PERMANENT COMFORT ZONES?

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#ComfortZones #comfort #contentment #success
“Comfort zones aren’t meant to be permanent.”
So beings a TV ad for Regions Bank.
The message appears to be that the bank will be there for you through life’s ups and downs.
But let’s dig deeper into that sentence. We all look for, sometimes find and try to stay in our comfort zones.
Comfort zone equals contentment.
But if contentment is all one seeks, he or she is missing something.
Truly successful people not only leave comfort zones, they high-tail it out of them.
One doesn’t aim for success just to be content.
One aims for success to change the world, or, at least, his or her own world.
Real success is achieved when one goes beyond what’s comfortable to him or her, stretches his or her abilities and takes risks.
When one seeks only comfort, he or she probably is not dreaming, is not seeing himself or herself beyond, perhaps, what his or her parents and other elders suggested they seek in life.
Some people grew up being taught that dreaming is dangerous, and only for the, well, less stable folk.
Stability begot success in previous decades.
That stability, today, has all but vanished. When one is stable, he or she has a job that pays decently and, perhaps, provides benefits. His or her role is to behave well in the workplace, do his or her job well enough to please his or her boss and work until it was time to retire.
Such an existence is non-existent today. Very few people stay in the same job, with the same company, for decades. Some people stay with a company long-term, but their jobs change – often frequently.
What you are doing today probably won’t be what you’ll be doing tomorrow. Often, you won’t have any control over decisions made for you.
Wise leaders say one must prepare for success. It may start with preparing for the unexpected wherever you work. Most companies today have to change with the times and technology. If you do a certain job, and the job changes, will you change with it? If not, you could be gone.
Fortunately, there are programs available that allow people to prepare for the unexpected at work. They involve spending a few, part-time, off-work hours a week at endeavors that could put enough money in their pockets to allow them to roll with whatever rolls downhill at them.
These programs require no specific education, experience or background. They do require an open mind, a willingness to do something you perhaps never thought you would do. And, yes, they require you to get out of your comfort zone.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
You may be comfortable sitting on your favorite couch or chair. But, as comfortable as that is, you don’t sit there forever. Success requires movement. Comfort, generally, requires sitting still. So the question becomes, are you satisfied just being comfortable, or do you dream of something much better? Whatever route you choose, it can be there for the taking.
Peter

REMOTE WORK BECOMING A TREND?

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#RemoteWork #WorkRemotely #WorkingRemotely #jobs #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve
What if you could live wherever you wanted, regardless of where your job is?
Matt Kempner, business reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, tells the story of a couple who work for Atlanta companies, but live outside of Nashville, Tenn., some 240 miles away.
His article was published May 2, 2021.
The story of Emily Weddington and her husband goes like this: she works in marketing for one company, he in finance for another.
They had a house with a small yard in Brookhaven, Ga., just outside Atlanta. Now, they own and live in a bigger house on five acres outside Nashville. Each has his and her own office. They have the same jobs they had living in Atlanta.
But, in Tennessee, they are closer to his parents and their dogs have more room to run.
When the pandemic hit, employers became more open to allowing people to work from home and avoid close contact in offices.
In fact, a headline on Nedra Rhone’s “RealLife” column in the Sept. 2, 2021, edition of the Atlanta paper, says: “Why no one wants to go back to the office.”
Rhone’s column talks about Zeena Regis, who, though she loves the personal contact of working outside the home, loves the flexibility of having multiple ways of doing her job.
Some stats from Rhone’s column: An April survey from FlexJobs says 60 percent of women and 52 percent of men said they would quit their jobs if they couldn’t continue to work from home at least part of the time. Some employers aren’t on the same page. In a digital.com survey, only 10 percent of employers surveyed said they would make remote work mandatory, while only 17 percent said they would follow a hybrid schedule.
Experts expect these relaxed standards to persist well after the threat of spreading disease has subsided, Kempner writes.
This opens up many possibilities for many working adults. First and foremost, the cost of going to work – the commute, beverages and lunch at work (unless you brown-bag), work clothes etc. – will be lessened.
Secondly, you don’t have to live in a high-tax, high-expense area where your company may be located. You can lower your cost of living without giving up your job.
Thirdly, you can live in, say, your favorite vacation spot without having to be on vacation.
In short, this trend has endless possibilities and choices for those able to take advantage of them.
Certainly, there are disadvantages. As Regis points out in Rhone’s column, personal interaction with colleagues is greatly reduced. Secondly, staying in your house all day, or all night, depending on the hours you work, can be limiting. That’s why you are seeing more folks trick out their houses because they are spending so much time there.
There can also be some tax consequences working in one state and living in another. Those could potentially wash out with the savings in the other areas.
The other disadvantage – some may see it only as a tradeoff – is that you could be available to your employer 24/7. Chances are, though, if you have a job that allows you to work remotely, you have always been available to your employer 24/7.
What can you do if you don’t have a job that gives you such flexibility? There are many programs out there that, by spending a few, part-time off-work hours a week to start, could provide you an income that could allow you eventually to say goodbye to that burdensome employment.
Yes, these programs can be done from anywhere, under any circumstances. And, you don’t need specific education, experience or background to pursue them. You just need a mind open enough to check them out.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
The pandemic is changing many work environments. Not everyone is benefiting from these changes. If you are not, you have options. If you are, take full advantage.
Sometimes, progress results from catastrophe. It’s up to each person to make lemonade from lemons and adapt to the changes that have come, or will come.
Peter

IT’S LABOR DAY: HOW’S YOUR JOB GOING?

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#LaborDay #jobs #employers #employees #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve
On this “unusual” Labor Day, “workers are in demand, but relatively scarce. (They are) enticed by incentives but scared of infection, constrained by child-care needs, while attracted by a more elastic workplace.”
So writes Michael E. Kanell, business and economics reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in his Labor Day, 2021, article.
In that same edition of the Atlanta paper, Matt O’Brien and Paul Wiseman write about artificial intelligence (robots) handling a lot of service tasks once performed by humans. In their Associated Press article, they cite the example of a robot voice assistant at a Los Angeles Arby’s restaurant taking orders and relaying them to the line cooks.
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing changes in the labor market, giving employees more leverage, as we discussed previously, while replacing some with machines, not just in manufacturing, but the service industries.
Kanell writes that wage disparities between upper- and lower-echelon employees are still wide, with many lower-echelon workers still unable to afford the median rent in Atlanta of $1,488 per month.
But with all the talk of raising the minimum wage, it’s being done in the marketplace rather than in government.
Big companies like Target, Walgreens Walmart at CVS, as well as smaller employers like the Frazer Center in Atlanta, have declared $15 per hour as their base, or minimum, wage, Kanell writes.
Why? The pandemic is making people hesitant to go back to work, unless they have higher wages, more flexibility and more protection from getting sick.
TheHub recently opened a distribution center outside of Atlanta, with 22 employees. It starts workers at $16.65 an hour, plus a $1,000 sign-on bonus for new employees. It also includes medical benefits and matching contributions to workers’ 401(k) accounts, Kanell writes.
Meanwhile, other employers, per the Associated Press article, are figuring out ways to handle lower-wage tasks without people. A machine doesn’t take sick time, vacations or other interruptions humans require, the article says.
It boils down to this: the changing workplace the pandemic has induced is resulting in higher pay, more benefits, more flexibility and, often, better jobs for many workers.
These changes could last forever, since diseases have no time limits or expiration dates. When one disease is mitigated, another could follow. The overall economy could see a huge benefit as people get paid more.
If you are not seeing the kind of progress in your job (career) that you want to see, there are programs out there that can allow you to earn an income, even from home, without requiring any specific education, experience or background. Potentially, these programs can eventually allow you to say goodbye to your awful job, if that’s what you have. Or, if you’ve been out of work for a time, they could robustly get you back on your feet – even, perhaps, make you dance for joy.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, we will keep reading (and writing) about workplace changes caused by the pandemic.
These changes could revamp lives in ways never imagined even two years ago. Many lives will change for the better. Some may not, so those folks will need alternatives.
Here’s a big chance for you to initiate the change(s) in your life that you want. You’ve always had the power to do it, but it may be more urgent, and obvious, now.
Take advantage of it. Use your new leverage to your advantage.
Peter

LEVERAGE, POWER AND WORK

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#jobs #employers #employees #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve #NewNormal  #leverage
Gail has a job that was vital to her company’s operation.
The job is low level and low paying, relative to the stress and responsibility it imposed on her.
Gail wins a big lottery jackpot. She tells her company that, instead of instinctively quitting on the spot, she would stay until her replacement is hired and properly trained. In the end, Gail wanted to be paid her regular salary for that time, and, at the end, be paid for the unused vacation time she had earned.
The company said no. Gail walked. Gail had leverage. The company resented that leverage. (Read: employer cuts off nose to spite face.)
In short, this dispute was not about money. It was about power.
Today’s labor market is in turmoil. The COVID-19 pandemic has upended most normal operations.
There are many available jobs, yet relatively high unemployment. Employers say the dichotomy is caused by “excessive government benefits” that “pay people to stay home.”
If it were only that simple. Certainly, the benefits the government provided to cushion the effects on working people whose situations were completely destroyed by the pandemic have helped those workers make tough decisions.
Employers are trying to force normalcy, and want to create some sense of – for lack of a better word — desperation to bring back the employees they had to furlough. That would give them leverage.
Employees have many more decisions to make. First, since schools are trying to reopen normally, one COVID outbreak could shut down a class, or a school, instantly. (Having everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated – by whatever means — would be a big help). Does a parent go back to work and leave a child at home to “go to school remotely” on his or her own? (Many day-care alternatives dried up during the pandemic.) Does that parent want to risk getting ill by going back to a job, among the maskless unvaccinated, at which safety measures are not necessarily assured? (A worker is no good to anyone when hospitalized, or worse.)
It’s complicated. It’s forcing employers to be more innovative about their work places and work rules. It’s forcing employees to make harder choices: is it WORTH going back to work?
Adding to the complications is job availability. If a worker spent a career at Position X, but a different Position Y offers better pay, more flexibility and more safety, he or she is likely to choose Position Y, presuming he or she is qualified for it.
Where does that leave the employer of Position X? He or she can either complain about employees “being paid to stay home,” or find a way to get those employees, or new ones, back. It may require creativity, thinking outside the box and/or thinking less about himself, or herself, and more about the future of his or her business.
For employees, there are potentially oodles of options, some of which also may require creativity and thinking outside the box. If you are someone like Gail, without the big lottery jackpot in hand, there are ways to create a potentially lucrative income that involve spending a few, part-time, off-job hours a week pursuing something you may have never thought you would do. No specific education, experience or background is required. These are non-government programs that can potentially give you leverage with your employer.
To check out one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, we all have to figure out what the “new normal” will be. We have to learn lessons from this episode so that we are better prepared for the next one.
And, there WILL be a next one.
As had been said before, if you – employer — pay them properly, ensure their safety, provide flexibility and understanding in difficult situations and mitigate fear of sudden furlough, they will come. They will work.
If you don’t, they won’t. And you can’t force them.
Peter

INVIDIVUAL RIGHTS VS. DOING WHAT’S RIGHT

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#IndividualRights #DoingRight #GetVaccinated #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve
Can one be for individual rights AND doing right?
In today’s world, it’s tough to see that, but let’s break it down.
The U.S. Declaration of Independence guarantees us the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
But, when a public health crisis emerges, we have to think more about doing right.
Why? Because it’s no longer just about YOUR rights, because how we behave can affect many others – even those closest to us.
In a time like now, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to weigh our individual rights. Yes, we have the individual right to get the virus and potentially become ill. But, if we get it, and we didn’t protect ourselves properly, we could infect others. How would you feel about individual rights if someone close to you, or even a stranger, got sick BECAUSE you exercised your individual rights not to get vaccinated?
Individual rights give us choices. One of those choices is doing right.
Individual rights can be defined differently, depending on whom you ask.
It’s my body, and I have the right to do, or not do, with it what I choose.
Does this mean you have the right to use your body to hurt someone else, i.e., with a punch or a kick?
If you don’t really have the right to use your body as a physical weapon, do you have the right to use your body to potentially spread disease – as a passive weapon?
There’s a whole different debate on how women decide how to use their bodies, and whether they have the right to do with it what they choose.
We certainly all respect individual rights. But communities are made up of many individuals. If individuals all believe they have different rights from others’, how do those individuals become part of the community?
If we all want healthy communities, what are we, as individuals, doing to help ensure that? If we don’t want others to hurt us, do we still believe we have the right to hurt others?
In workplaces, individual rights have to fit within the framework of the employer’s needs. In most jobs, employees often end up having to do tasks they don’t want to do. Do they have the right to say no? Certainly, but there will be consequences that the employee may not prefer.
Incidentally, if your boss is giving you a lot of tasks you’d prefer not to do, there are ways you can build a potential income that might one day allow you to finally say no.
There are many great programs that allow you to devote a few, part-time, off-job hours a week toward building such an income. No specific education, experience or background is required.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Meanwhile, it’s worth your time to give thought to your individual rights, what is right and how you should contribute to your community.
Your rights may indeed be absolute. But to achieve the correct balance in your life, you need to find the formula of individual rights, doing right and contributing to your community that works for you and all around you.
These choices should not seem hard. In fact, they should be very simple.
Peter

WHO IS WATCHING YOU?

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#WhoIsWatchingYou #BeingWatched #SomeoneIsAlwaysWatchingYou
Someone is always watching you.
It’s been said that one’s character is judged by what he or she does when no one is watching.
But, someone is always watching.
They may not watch you every minute, every hour or every day. But they are watching.
And, it’s not necessarily for sinister purposes that they are watching, as tech companies and other browsers are reported to be doing.
They are watching to see what you do, how you carry yourself, how you interact with and treat others and what results you get.
They may be watching you because they want to be like you. They may not necessarily want to imitate you, but they may look to you for guidance for their own behavior.
Just as that is true, the opposite may also be true. They may be looking at you to determine how NOT to behave in given circumstances.
If you are a parent, your children are probably your most loyal watchers. They may not always listen to you, but they ALWAYS watch you.
If you are a student, teachers and other students are watching you. They not only want to see how you perform in school, they want to see how you behave outside of school.
As adults, we may not always think our behavior is watch-worthy. We may believe we lead boring lives that no one wants to watch.
Oh, but they do. Why? They don’t watch for the entertainment value of your life – although some lives can be quite entertaining. They are more likely watching to catch some life lessons that they may want, or not, to emulate.
If you are an employee, your boss is always watching you. After all, it is his or her responsibility that YOU do what you are supposed to do at work. The boss also may be looking for how the workplace culture is affecting you. Even if you do the work properly, do you fit in to what the company is trying to achieve?
If you are a teacher, your students most definitely are watching you. Even if they seem less eager to learn than you would like, they are still watching – and learning. As with parents, they may not listen to everything you tell them, but they are watching to see whether you carry out your message.
Friends also watch you – and here’s where a sinister part may come in. They watch to see how you evolve as a person and whether they can comfortably fit into your life. They may not want you to become “too successful,” lest you leave them behind. If you get excited about a new opportunity, some friends will try to convince you that it really isn’t for you. That’s known as jealousy.
As people watch, how much you care about what they think will determine how you conduct yourself. If you are looking to do something other than what you’re doing now to enhance your own prosperity, there are many programs available to help you do that.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Someone is always watching you. How much should you care about that? A good rule of thumb is if you are trying to do everything right, you shouldn’t care. If not, perhaps you should.
But, more importantly, don’t act – or not act – based on the impression you want to leave on some watchers. Act because what you are doing is right for you, and could be right for others whom you would prefer to watch you.
Peter

FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY

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#freedom #responsibility #COVID19 #coronavirus #FlattenTheCurve #vaccinations
Personal freedom is your right.
But you have to use it responsibly.
You have the right to hurt yourself, but you have the responsibility not to hurt others.
To paraphrase the late Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, you have the right to swing your fist, but the responsibility not to bloody someone’s nose.
To again paraphrase Ben Franklin, we have the right to create a republic, but the responsibility to do what we must to keep it.
Personal freedoms are not just given. They are given with the caveat that we will use them responsibly.
Most of us, deep down, understand the concept. But, today, there are a few who apparently do not.
In terms of COVID-19 vaccinations, you have the right to refuse it, get ill, even die, though no one wishes that for anyone. You don’t have the right to get the virus and, however unintentionally, give it to someone else.
It all boils down to risk. Most everything we do in life involves risk. We make decisions on what to do, or not do, based on a risk (and reward) assessment.
Certainly, not all risks are worth taking. Some risks can be minimized. Some can be avoided. The key is to determine your risk tolerance based on good information, a strong feeling of self-preservation and a strong desire not to inflict unwanted hardship on others – even others you may not know.
Risk also abounds in the workplace. Most people, unless they are in knowingly risky professions, don’t see taking a job as a risk.
In fact, they see taking a job as a necessity, regardless of the hardship it brings. The risk comes in the form of missed opportunity, taking Job X instead of Job Y.
What if you took Job X, but Job Y is completely different. And you could do Job Y while keeping Job X?
There are programs out there that allow people to, while they are off from Job X, to devote a few part-time hours to Job Y. Perhaps, eventually, unless they really love Job X, Job Y may be all they need to thrive financially.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Personal freedom ALWAYS comes with responsibility.
Think of freedom like a paycheck. You have the right to collect it, but you have the responsibility to do what you must to earn it.
One craves the freedom, but also must embrace the responsibility. One has the freedom to marry, but one must have the responsibility of fidelity to that marriage.
One has the freedom to choose, but has the responsibility to choose wisely.
One has the freedom to be a daredevil, but has the responsibility to ensure daredevil antics hurt no innocent bystanders.
So, if you support personal freedom, you MUST support taking the responsibility it requires.
Freedom and requirement are not mutually exclusive terms. We all cherish the freedom the U.S. allows. We have the responsibility to ensure that freedom does not hurt others.
Peter

KNOW YOUR LIMITS, OR PUSH THROUGH OBSTACLES?

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#2021Olympics #pressure #mentalhealth #decisions
Simone Biles decided to opt out many of the 2021 Olympics gymnastics events for her mental health.
Sunisa Lee almost quit gymnastics, but pressed on and eventually won a Gold Medal at the same Olympics.
CNN’s Alisyn Camerota posed the question: What is the teachable moment here?
Many of us were always told to press through obstacles. Play hurt. Don’t let setbacks stop you.
Now, with Biles and swimmer Michael Phelps, among others, there is new thinking. If your head is not in the right place, take a step back.
In other words, know your limits. It’s OK not to be OK. Time away can help you.
It was undoubtedly difficult for Biles, considered the greatest gymnast of all time, to pull out of what was said to be her last Olympics. After all, she’s the best at what she does, she can bring home many medals for the U.S. and the Olympics are what she works so hard for. Some ask, how can her mental state get in her way? Can’t she just suck it up and play through it?
As an elite athlete, both mind and body have to work together. In one of her events, Biles got a “twisty,” meaning her mind did not know where she was, what to do and how to land, in mid air.
News reports say that if she weren’t as good as she is, she could have landed wrong and injured herself, perhaps to the point of paralysis.
She’s gotten “twisties” before, but she didn’t want to risk it again, the reports say.
Meanwhile, U.S. teammate Lee, earlier in her career, was not in a good place. She thought of quitting the sport, news reports say.
Yet, she persevered. That paid off with a Gold Medal in the all-around exercises at the 2021 Olympics.
So, what do you tell your kids when they ask questions about these incidents? Often, as children, we are taught to overcome, or push through, obstacles. We are encouraged not to get discouraged.
Here’s what you may have been told: Others are depending on you.
Everyone reacts differently to that kind of pressure. Some can handle it regularly and for life. Others can handle it for a time, but not all the time. Still, others can’t handle it at all.
Elite athletes face that pressure regularly. Most have their own way of dealing with it. But, sometimes it can build up over many years to a point that it becomes too tough to handle. In that case, many elite athletes retire. Some should retire, but press on. Others press on to more success.
So, this begs a question. How do you handle obstacles? Do you simply avoid them at all cost? Or, do you accept the challenge they pose? Things will happen to you in your workplace. Many are not in your control. How do you handle them? Are you looking for something better?
There are many programs out there that allow you to spend a few, part-time, off-work hours a week to enhance your income, and your future. No specific education, experience or background is required. You just need an open mind, and willingness to do something you perhaps never thought you would do.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
Lee’s and Biles’ situations are not mutually exclusive. You just have to know yourself, know what you want and know how to protect yourself. May you find the right place for you.
Peter

WORK SHIFTS: PART 2

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#work #workplaces #jobs #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve
Brigid Schulte believes the workplace – at least office workplaces – should not go back to the way they were before the coronavirus pandemic.
Schulte, director of the Better Life Lab at New America, was interviewed by Henry Grabar in an article for Future Tense, published July 13, 2021.
Work, before the pandemic, really didn’t work for most people, she tells the reporter.
It encroached more and more on people’s lives. Some workers, including many so-called essential workers, were underpaid for the necessary work they did.
Others were asked to work more and more hours, taking more family and leisure time away from them, she said in the article.
With the advent of the pandemic, some workers spent more time at home, and started to realize what they were missing, the article points out.
Another issue: child care. With parents at home during the pandemic, they were worker, caregiver and teacher aide to their kids. Now, with the pandemic forcing many day-care and other services for children to close, that limits the options, particularly for women, the article points out.
What you now have is a care crisis, Schulte says in the article. That puts a heavy burden on women.
Then, there is the issue of career advancement. Schulte says that people who work in front of their bosses, or at least where their bosses can see them, can help advance their careers. They can at least give the appearance of being industrious, and, therefore, get noticed.
Those who work from home may produce good work, but it may make it harder to judge someone you don’t see in action very often, she said in the article.
The article talks about digital nomads, people traveling, looking for suitable wireless signals and doing their work while having a good time on the road.
“I think it’s too early to say that digital nomads are a red herring. I think it’s just really going to depend on the cultures that develop and what they allow, what they value, and ultimately what they end up rewarding. Because if you’re a digital nomad, but you keep missing promotions and you’re not getting pay bonuses and you’re not valued, well, I can imagine you’re going to get the message that even though the policy says you can do it, if it’s not working out in practice, you’re going to run right back to the office,” the article quotes Schulte.
So how do you fit in to these scenarios? Is your employer making you come back to the office, because, after all, he’s paying for that space? Or, is the employer allowing you the flexibility you want, without penalizing you, and, perhaps, even rewarding you?
If you are in the latter category, good for you. If not, you may want to rethink what you want to do with the rest of your life.
Fortunately, there are several programs that allow you not only to work from home OR outside the home, but also can perhaps give you a potential income that could dwarf what you are making dealing with all these obstacles.
And, you don’t have to quit your job. You can do these with only a few, part-time, off work hours a week to start. No specific education, experience or background is needed.
To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
You’ll probably read and hear a lot more about workplace changes – the good, the bad and the ugly – over many years. Try to analyze them and work to make them compatible with your own situation. You can’t do anything about some things, but you probably can do some things that make everything work out for you.
Peter

WORK SHIFTS: PART 1

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#work #workplaces #jobs #coronavirus #COVID19 #FlattenTheCurve
Work, and the workforce is changing. Thank COVID-19 for that .
Anna North, in an article for Vox.com published July 13, writes that the five-day workweek is dead. More on that later.
A LinkedIn article says the pandemic has introduced three trends that are redefining the modern workforce: 1) Remote and hybrid models are quickly becoming the “new normal.” 2) Workers’ sense of possibilities is expanding. What people think of as a “good Job” has shifted, with flexibility rising to prominence. 3) The geography of jobs is realigning in ways that may have multi-decade implications. Job seekers are going to smaller places to live, rather than larger cities.
Finally, an article by Llewellyn King, executive producer and host of “White House Chronicle,” on PBS, says it’s time for “old bonds to be loosed and for new energy to be released” into the workforce. The article, written for InsideSources.com, was also published July 16, 2021, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
So, what’s happening and how is it affecting you? Are you still doing what you were doing before the pandemic hit? Did the pandemic make you rethink your life, or life’s work, and encourage you to try something different?
In the Vox article, the five-day workweek, which workers fought hard for during the Industrial Revolution, has been debated for decades. The early 1970s featured articles that said more leisure time was trending for workers, as jobs were scarcer than they are today.
One can debate whether one needs to go into work five days a week, as the other articles discuss, but it’s unlikely that most employers will allow their workers to spend any less time doing their jobs.
The LinkedIn article says what people thought of as a “good job” is changing. What do you see as a “good job?” Do you have one? Or, better yet, are you working just for money and nothing more?
King’s article takes the trend head on. He talks about how people found out during the pandemic that commuting was a drag. He also discussed how some people find life better without a boss, and are creating income through “gigs,” or starting their own businesses.
These trends are being labeled by some as just laziness, with too many prospective workers turning down jobs because of too much available government aid. They’re not seeing what’s really happening. People are beginning to re-evaluate what a job should be, how much of their time they should spend at it, and whether they should do it in a place dictated by someone else.
They are also re-evaluating whether a job that they had prior to COVID-19 is worth going back to, or is even available to go back to. There are certainly available jobs, but there seems to be more of a variety from which workers can choose. Someone may prefer to make widgets than wait tables, for example.
There is good news here, especially for those who are looking for something different, but the available alternatives they have seen just aren’t suiting their fancy. There are a number of programs out there that allow you to take, or keep, a job – if you are just working for money — and spend a few, part-time off-work hours building a potential future income that could dwarf anything you could find in the job market.
The best news: these programs can be done from home, or not, and you don’t need any specific education, experience or background to do them. Yes, there are no bosses either. To learn about one of the best such programs, message me.
The coronavirus has spurred workforce changes we will see for years, or decades, to come. Companies have to adapt. Workers have to adapt. The workers, though, may find more options than they ever thought. But, they have to be willing to look.
Peter