Q: Are you in an abusive relationship with your job?

Summary: Long-term job security is increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Automation, outsourcing, and robotics affect the future of 9-5 employees.

This Klariti tutorial will explain how to protect your long-term options by becoming less reliant on tradition lines of business and looking at alternatives ways to generate income.

The Myth of Long-Term Employment

I grew up in Ireland in the 1970s. We had 20% unemployment. Having a job was everything.

This was before the internet, job sites, and Linkedin.

At 18, I moved to England by myself. It was the second time I had set foot outside Ireland. Worse, I landed just after the IRA tried to blow up Margaret Thatcher. Not great timing.

The aim was to get a job – any job.

Eight years later I was working for a microchip company near Sacramento, California. They gave freelancers eight week contracts. Top performers were given another eight weeks – the worst were let go.

You can imagine the frenzy. We’d often work 60 hours a week to get the next contract. If you do the math…

It’s easy to get on the treadmill over working longer and longer hours. You start to make sacrifices. Your health suffers. You lose friends because you neglect to stay in touch.

But because it’s your job, somehow you can justify it.

That cycle went on for years. Then we got a shock.

True story, this. A very good family friend who’d worked for 19 years and ten months, was let go eight weeks before his pension kicked in (at 20 years).

At his age, finding a new job was almost impossible. The company said it was nothing person, just business.

They were telling the truth. When you’re let go, it’s just business.

That really stopped me in my tracks. It was so cold-blooded. I think that was the moment I started to look for a way to get out and start my own little business.

Looking back I can see that it’s easy to fool yourself if you want to. After all, others are in the same position. So, we all spin the same story.

But you know when people say, “Well, they can’t all be wrong, can they?”

They can.

Having a job is wonderful, especially when it complements your life.

But you need to keep it in perspective.

If you work 9-5 you’re an employee, hopefully a valued one. If you become too expensive, your job could get outsourced. It’s just business.

I’m not knocking working 9-5. I’ve had some great jobs in the past. But others were awful, really awful.

For example, several years ago, when we moved back to Ireland I got a promotion. More money, longer hours, and it looked good on my CV.

For four and a half years, I worked very hard.

Then I was let go.

They called us into a room Friday after lunch.

The whole office was moved to Romania. That was it.

That can be a hard pill to swallow.

When you think back on all the sacrifices you’ve made…

But here’s the thing.

I don’t think there’s ever been a better time to start your own business. Have you seen Udemy for example? Maybe you can create a course. Why not?

You don’t have to do all today, but you can start today, bit by bit, and find a way out. Baby steps. One at a time.

I know what you’re thinking – security.

I was brought up to believe that having a job was security. Running your own business was risky.

I’ve think it’s the opposite.

What do you think?