Twitter, Amazon, Meta, Elsewhere, T-A-M-E Job Losses and Labour Market Upheavals

As I prepare for my lecture with graduate students on "Time-in-employment, Labour Mobility and Labour Market Transitions", I am thinking through the trending cases of mass layoff of workers at Twitter, Amazon, Meta, and elsewhere.

Below are some nuggets that employees, the suppliers of labour time, who are currently in 'secure' job roles may wish to think through with me.

1. Do not despise the tiny ants in and around your office space, they will likely be there long after you are gone. 

You can learn a great deal from ants about how to stay relevant through business cycles and seasons, and build resilience by living-in-preparation. Small creatures can teach great lessons.

2. Do not spend your income without saving up for future job-loss shocks. Save before you spend.

One purpose of your current employment is to help you prepare for the inevitable days of future unemployment. You can always afford to err on the side of prudence. Invest into your future while you have the chance, your mental health depends on it.

3. Do not wait to be fired before you start building a personal support system and/or community of practice.

Build and maintain your network of friends, partners, collaborators, helpers, and co-learners while you have the chance, and long before you may need them. 

4. Do not depend on your employer's rating for a sense of worth.

You are always worth much more than your current employer would like to admit. Be grateful for your life! Like the self-affirming nodding lizard, always appreciate yourself, even if no one else does, you deserve it. 

5. Do not spend your time at work on office gossip and meaningless banter, invest most of your time.

Time is the asset you are exchanging for money as an employee. Invest in your efficiency, grow your mind, develop your capacity to build and maintain great relationships and things.

6. Do not be flattered to think you are indispensable to any workplace.

There are 7 billion plus persons on the planet who could function better than you ever will at that job. Sharpen your skills and create premium value at work. Nonetheless, if you need to, please feel free to bow out when the ovation is loudest.

7. Do not over hype your contributions to the workplace, that was why you were employed in the first instance - to make a difference.

Maintain a reasonable and realistic estimation of yourself at work. If you are not careful, overestimating yourself may hurt your feelings in the end. Always remember you are simply a 'tool' or 'resource', the 'means' to your employer's ends, nothing more. Fiercely focus on being an effective tool while you last.

8. Do not hesitate to humbly fire your employer if you perceive strongly that someone else (or yourself) can do a better job at being a dream employer to you.

A 'high-profile' workplace may be great  for your career profile. Nevertheless, feel free to settle for a more rewarding, seemingly 'low-profile' but enabling and friendly work environment whenever you need to.

9. Do not be deceived by HR propaganda; the workplace is not your family, never get things mixed up. 

A workplace may become family when you become a shareholder, otherwise you are simply a stakeholder. In any case, a family does not lay off its members during hard times. Do your best at work, yet prioritise and invest in your real family.

10. Do not overstay your welcome at any workplace, being a local champion may be limiting to your potential. 

Know when to break out of the box the employer has fit you into. Know when to learn something new. Know when to manage by walking around. Know when to quit a toxic workplace. Know when to brighten the grey areas. Know when to retreat or advance, your destiny depends on it.

11. Do not be deceived, you may never become as 'great' as your employers think they can make you.

True greatness is only found in servicing the uniqueness of your calling. If you are called to serve your employer for the rest of your working life, then passionately stick with that. 

However, if you are designed to lead a different course, you would have to know when to exit the workplace, perhaps to become a collaborator or competitor in business with your previous employer.

12. Employees tend to be specialists while employers of labour are mostly generalists, make an informed choice and live with it.

Most so-called rich generalists may never actually want you in their exclusive clique. Thankfully, specialists can also develop into generals and generalists, so, never place a cap on your own potential.

Pitch a tent wherever you belong, enjoy your unique journey, and maintain a visionary focus. 

13. Failure at work is never a final verdict, it is just a turning point on your life's learning curve. Move on!

Be humble enough to learn from your errors, mistakes, and failures as well as those of others. Moreover, you may need to find out what else you are designed to succeed at, then learn to work as hard as when you are smart in play. 

...

In indigenous Yòrùbá parlance, it is the office that usually succeeds the officeholder (Ofisi ni yíò rí èyìn akòwé). Also, just like flowing streams of water (omi ni ènìyàn), humans are highly mobile resources.

Employees and other active labour market participants can steadily build resilience to future labour market upheavals, one step at a time. 

On the demand side, employers of labour can strive to develop the common sense and superior discernment required to dodge bad investment decisions. 

Whew! I look forward to an exciting class ahead.