We buy insurance of all kinds to protect us against events like fire, theft, and collisions because their consequences can be so severe. What about unemployment? For most people, being out of work certainly isn't rare. In fact, we can count on it. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average 18-to-30-year-old American has worked for 7 1/2 different employers and will have to find at least 10 jobs during his or her career.
But who ever heard of taking out employment insurance? (States do, of course, provide limited employment compensation, but it doesn't cover first-time job seekers, people who quit their jobs, those who have exhausted their benefits, etc.) Employment insurance may not have been necessary years ago when getting an education, finding a job, and doing it well usually provided employment security. But things have changed.
The New Realities
In the new corporate world order, having a job isn't enough. Doing a very good job isn't either. Even superstars, like Lee lacocca, get fired. If you're working, you should, of course, continue to do everything possible to meet the needs of your employer. Upgrade your skills. Use every legitimate means to become indispensable.
But some things are beyond your control. Like the gigantic economic quake that is shaking the foundations of the business world, covering our landscape with dislocated workers. Corporate pyramids, stacked with layers and layers of managers, seemed secure-until the ground under them broke open. Now it's clear that they, like the great monuments of ancient Egypt, represent an old culture. Replacing them are new organizational forms, like "spider webs," "shamrocks," and "star bursts."
In a shamrock organization, for example, a core staff is assisted by a larger number of people who provide services on a contract or temporary basis. Former Harvard Business School Professor Charles Handy estimates that less than half of the work force in the industrialized world will be in "proper" full-time jobs by the beginning of the 21st century. The rest will be self-employed, part-time, and temporary employees? The future is fast approaching. The New York Times reported recently that "there are 24.4 million part-time and temporary workers, representing 22% of employed Americans.
Your Employment Security
Whether you're working or not, highly educated or skilled, ultimately your employment security - and your independence - come from being able to take control and find another job. Quickly knowing how to do that is your employment insurance.
The best time to invest in it is when you're working, before the quake hits. Fortunately, it's never too late, because employment insurance is different from other kinds of insurance. You don't have to get it in advance. Buying flood insurance after the deluge won't do much good. But you can benefit from employment insurance at any time in your career.
