Then……………………………………………………………….and Now
Does anyone remember the days when your household garbage was collected by hand with a couple of guys running around behind the rubbish truck??? They would physically pick up each bin, carry them to the truck, empty out the rubbish and take the bin back to the footpath.
Each truck then had 3 people employed with it……1 to drive the truck and 2 guys to carry out the physical collection.
Now we have larger wheelie bins that are physically lifted by a mechanical arm which is operated by the driver from within the truck – emptied and placed back down. Only one employee is needed to carry the same function out now…….and by the way, even that is contracted out by the Local Council.
So how many unskilled labouring jobs were lost throughout Australia with this change? Sufficed to say A LOT!!!
This is only one of many, many, many examples of jobs that either have disappeared completely or are at risk of extinction!!!
Call Centres are another great example. In the mid to late 1990’s I was involved in recruiting up to 50 call centre operators at a time for all the big banks, Telstra etc……….now much of this has moved offshore.
Not to mention the car manufacturing industry………bye bye Holden!!
So why do jobs disappear?
- Technology advances……mechanics and robotics are faster and more reliable
- Economy ups and downs…….building and construction is often on a roller coaster
- International Trade and Labour Markets…….can it be produced cheaper over seas
- Environmental awareness and compliance…….the mining industry is exhibit A
- Politics…….solar rebates and the insulation scheme saw businesses made and broken in the swings and round-abouts
- Market changes…..what do people actually want and need
This evolution of jobs has been happening since the start of time – and it certainly isn’t going to stop now!!
Those people who have an attitude of complacency and have their heads firmly stuck in the sand are the ones who will continue to be left behind…..without a job or without their business……and stick their hands up in the air wondering what happened…….feeling lost and afraid for their future…..and in many cases taking on a “blame everyone else” mentality.
I know this may come as a surprise to many……but jobs and business don’t just disappear over night……there are ALWAYS signs……we just need to be aware of them and take action!!
In this series of blogs, I’m going to be looking at businesses and how they can position themselves not only to survive, but thrive……as well as when it is time to make difficult decisions.
I’ll also look at the future of job security from the employee perspective……if your job is at risk of extinction, what can you do……what are the jobs for the future.