September Signs

The yellow buses are rolling again, a sure sign of the transition from summer to fall. Children are returning to the familiar rhythms of the school calendar, whether they welcome it or not.

However, the transition from the relaxation of summer to the busyness of fall is bringing anxiety to a lot of households. The national outplacement firm of Challenger, Gray and Christmas reported this week that more than 375,000 American jobs were cut this summer – the biggest May-to-August loss in six years.

For most people within that number the old adage of “misery loves company” will provide scant comfort. In fact, it may heighten the anxiety quotient. More people out of work means more competition for fewer jobs.

Even the most casual observer of the communications industry knows that the lay-offs and down-sizing have come fast and furious this year as newspapers and other media outlets try to figure out the rapidly-changing landscape of new competition – the internet, social networking sites, blogs (!), vlogs, podcasts, etc. The advertising dollars that fund the industry have disperse, leaving fewer dollars to cover the news or to cover the salaries of those who did the reporting.

I’ve talked to a number of journalists this summer. People who, after long, productive, successful careers, suddenly found themselves facing mandatory layoffs. Or perhaps they found themselves facing a Hobson’s choice: take the buy-out offer on the table or roll the dice and risk a later layoff, at far less lucrative terms.

Those who continue on in their jobs report rising stress levels, worried that every telephone call or email may bring the end of working life as they know it.

For those who are mid-change, the question looms large – Transition To What?

These media workers, like so many people in the workforce, are coming to grips with the changing employment narrative of the new millennium. Among the newest workers, there is little expectation of having one employer until retirement.

Confronted by the reality of the shifting definitions of “work” and “job” and “employment,” transitioning employees are exhorted by outplacement counselors to view themselves as commodities that require branding, marketing and promotion.

Well, maybe we should think about that for a minute. Or more.

I admire those with a command of marketing and public relations. I have always respected those disciplines and the skills needed to do them well. I have enough respect to know that those skills aren’t authentic to everyone, and if you ask some people to think about their “personal brand,” what you’ll get is a deer-in-the-headlights stare and maybe small trickles of sweat around the hairline.

I think there must be an acknowledgement that some people would be quite content to work for someone or some entity for their entire working lives; taking instruction, performing a task they like and collecting a pay check every two weeks.

They valued that security. They didn’t want the added responsibility of self-promotion, self-branding. They wanted to do their jobs, get recognition when they did them well, and get a fair wage.

Now people are telling these workers that they should have paid attention to the changes swirling around them; that they were naïve at best and irresponsible at worst.

All those things may be true. And the process of transition is going to take workers into areas and options they never considered. The journey may provide more illumination and liberation anyone thought possible.

That doesn't change the sense of loss and mourning that these people feel as they watch the school buses join the flow of September back-to-work traffic, wondering where their transition is going to take them.

They have a right to their mourning. That too is part of the transition.