More than 12
million Americans are jobless and 40% of these individuals have been
out of work for more than six months. The U.S. economy overall may
be improving but many Americans still cannot find a job. This trend
will only continue in the foreseeable future says James Altucher,
managing director of Formula Capital, an asset management firm. The
author and venture capitalist says that the U.S. is moving toward an
�employee-less society.�
He asserts that
businesses used the 2008 financial crisis as an excuse to get rid of
�dead-wood,� and the firing trend hasn�t stopped. Companies no
longer show loyalty to employees. They�re more interested in
increasing profits and revenue � which means letting go of expensive
staff employees (due to health care benefits, 401k contributions)
and replacing them with cheaper temp employees. Altucher says this
situation is happening in every sector of the economy. And he should
know, as he sits on the board of a publicly traded temp-hiring firm.
The changing
employment climate has made Altucher an advocate of employees
quitting their jobs. He lists ten reasons why workers should give
their two-week notice:
�
The middle class is dead
�
You�ve been replaced
�
Corporations don�t like you
�
Money is not happiness
�
Count right now how many people can make a major decision that can
ruin your life
�
Is your job satisfying your needs?
�
Your retirement plan is
�
Excuses
�
It�s OK to take baby steps
�
Abundance will never come from your job
Of course,
packing up your cubicle and leaving a steady paycheck is a lot
easier said than done. Even if an employee waits to be fired to
collect unemployment benefits, the weekly sum will be much less than
one�s current take home pay.
So Altucher
offers a compromise: stay at your job but become an
�entre-employee.� By this he means building connections and
networking with employees in other divisions, or even starting
another business on the side.
�Look for
alternative sources of income,� he advises. �Learn your employer�s
connections and expand your services, because you can�t relax
anymore. You have to stay ahead of the economy.�
Altucher says
the techniques he preaches work � he has applied them to his own
career with success.
