Pride & Work Ethic

In an earlier blog I mentioned that I'd never been out of work since leaving the Navy; as clarification and not apology... I was not bragging. Simply stating fact. Even when I was a full time art/photography student I still had a couple of gigs. In the post-80s era, I understand it's not expected to keep a job for 20 or 30 years; it's just the nature - for better or worse - of the job market, the economy and the aspirations of the work force. I was fortunate enough to get one of the low-pay high-security gigs with great (what they used to call fringe) benefits, and although it had its ups and downs I was never compelled to call it quits, nor was I ambitious enough to try and find something "better" meaning higher paying.

25 years at the gig... 2013

The reason this is a topic of today's writing is because recently a friend and contemporary of mine went public with the news that he'd been laid off from his job. He considered it a brave act and confessed to some bit of shame as to being unemployed.

I thought it rather odd from my personal perspective, probably because I've never experienced it, and two; because I don't think shame would be an emotion I'd feel over being laid off from a job. (Of course, in this case refer back to #1.)

Here's where this gets into abstract thinking and it only reflects the way I feel at this moment. I cannot accurately state how I would feel if such an event had happened 5 or 10 years ago... especially with so much time invested in the gig.

I'm not sure when, however at some point I came to the realization that I'm not what I do for a living. So my job means little more to me than sustenance, and maybe compensation. When people ask me what I do I tell them, I show up; which eventually acquiesces into revealing that I'm a fitness trainer... the fun side gig that allows me to obfuscate the details my main squeeze. Nonetheless, I don't put any social stock into what I do for money. I'm not into status so I don't owe any alms, so to speak, to my profession.

Middle class people of my generation were raised with a strong work ethic. Just 15 to 20 years after World War II ended America had a kind of hero worship towards the working men in this country. There was a social contract if not a written one, between employers and labor - hard won by labor unions I might add - but as we entered the 1980s (the Ronald Reagan administration) all of that began to change. (I won't get too deep into this.) As the children who came up in the late 60s and early 70s came of working age those contracts between employers and employees began to break down. Kids born in the 80s and 90s are finding a job market that's all but devoid of any job security thus there's no job loyalty. Several of my tech-savvy friends seem to have no loyalty at all when it comes to the companies they work for; they will sell their skills to the highest bidder for a short term contract, learn all they can and then off to the next contract.

The friend in question worked in the tech sector for a start up. He got a good severance package, but his concern was being out of work. Coincidentally my nephew was laid off from a gig and looked at it (at least what he shared with the family) as an opportunity. I didn't detect the slightest bit of shame in his countenance.

I've never worked corporate and don't plan to. Despite retiring from my current gig, I have another career in me, should I choose to pursue one. If I do, it probably won't be corporate, I doubt I'll expect any security nor will I be overly loyal to the company.. whatever that even means now'days... and I certainly won't attach my self-worth or status to what I'm doing... not even if I happen to own the company I'm working for.