Rate Of Job Loss: Time To Consider Job Shift

Understanding "Job Shift" May Be Key To Helping Unemployed

The unemployment rate in Lee County jumped to 13.4 percent in January, according to numbers released Thursday by the state Employment Security Commission. The rate for Lee County in December was 10.9 percent.Statewide, the unemployment rate jumped to 9.7 percent, up from 8.1 percent in December. – Sanford Herald Facebook email 3:18 pm.”

A crisis in finance markets has rapidly become a global jobs crisis. Jobs are being eliminated and so unemployment rising. Businesses, local and global, are going under. Our blog includes a section called “Job Shift” and a download to a 1994 Fortune cover story based on a William Bridges’ provocative book, Jobshift: How To Prosper In A Workplace Without Jobs.(Google Version) Its premise is that one of the single most significant factors in adult life, “the job,” is disappearing, and that our individual and national well-being require a radically different perspective on how to make a living. Consider these brief quotes (with emphasis added) from noted economists and commentators:

“This is not an ordinary recession that differs from other recent episodes simply by being somewhat more severe. It differs in kind.” Axel Leijonhufvud, VOX, March, 13, 2009.

“These jobs (651,000 more jobs disappeared in February) aren’t coming back,” Job Losses Hint at Vast Remaking of Economy”, New York Times, March 6, 2009

“this isn't likely an economic crisis that most of us have ever witnessed in our lifetimes. Are We on the Verge of Structural Unemployment?-Charles Lemos, MYDD,March 9, 2009

What if the crisis of 2008 represents something much more fundamental than a deep recession?Thomas L. Freidman, “The Inflection Is Near”, New York Times, March 8, 2009

That perspective is nothing less than a new way at looking at the world of work so differently it will require a paradigm shift that requires we look at everything in our lives and society with a totally new view. When a paradigm shifts, those who recognize it early and work on its assumptions emerge as leaders. The 13% of our workers would have a better chance at regaining work (if not a job), and our local economy improve greatly. Our Job Shift section is designed to help individuals, businesses, and leaders accept the realities of the coming change and prepare for it now. A new second video has been added. If you have not seen both, we highly recommend them. One has been seen by more than 3,000,000 viewers.

Editor's Note: This is an abbreviated version of the post on the Job Post section. We encourage everyone, but especially community leaders to visit the site for more detailed information including expanded quotations for the articles above.