There’s been a bunch of news that doesn’t bode well for employees of all levels.
The service sector, which includes everything from hotels to your local hair salon, is showing signs of serious weakness. The Institute for Supply Management reported its service sector index fell to 41.9 in January from 54.5 in December — the biggest drop in a decade.
Typically, in an okay economy, the service sector continues to thrive because most people don’t cut back on things like shopping for clothing or eating out. But when you have companies that provide such services saying they expect to cut back on purchases, which is what the Institute’s study found, that means consumers aren’t doing their part by spending, spending, spending.
So, that means, service sector employers, everything from retailers to banks, will have to cut back on, what else? Workers. And in the service sector, you will probably see those rank and file jobs disappear first.
But management is not immune. In another ominous sign, Macy’s announced today it was cutting 2,300 management jobs.
Now is a good time to pick your head up and look beyond your cubicle and assess where you think your employer is in this economic mix. Does it seem your bosses are putting money into the business and looking to grow? Or, have you noticed that the office manager isn’t replenishing pens lately?
I’m not saying anyone should panic, but you need to know what’s going on around you so you can be in control of your career’s future.
February 6th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Good advice. Beyond that, I think it’s important to assess how much value you add to a company. Depending on your position, attitude, and skill set, you could find yourself as the first to go in even minor cutbacks. And of course, if you’re generating more than your salary, you’re probably pretty safe as long as the company is around. Although…if you’re generating significantly more than your salary in worth, it might be time to look at going solo anyway…
February 6th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I don’t doubt that the service sector is anticipating a slowdown, but I do wonder if ISM adjusts its figures to account for other factors that could impact supply orders. For example, one year ago, I was still printing many documents on a daily basis. By the end of the year, my printing has been reduced to less than a tenth of what it used to be (I now use two monitors to simultaneously view data on request forms while making the changes on another screen, eliminating the need to print a copy of the form). When going to meetings, I no longer take paper and pen–I use my laptop.
It seems that, as time progresses, this particular measure will have less and less value when examining the service sector.
February 6th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Good point HikingStick. The way we measure the economy should change because technology has changed the rule book. Also, there’s a productivity report out today that shows worker productivity is down. That gauge is also questioned by some economist because our country doesn’t have the number of factory jobs it once did. It was easy to measure productivity back when many of us were making widgets.
And Stefanie, what is a good way to figure out if your generating more than your salary?
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:18 pm
The tools of technology…..In Pittsburgh we used to measure the economy by how many times a week you had to wash tour windows. Because of the lack of manufacturing jobs and the fact that we are purchasing more and more goods from over seas, it is a matter of seeing how much goods are being unloaded in our ports. It is that simple.