I don't get the jobless.

[Scanner]

How many owners already struggle with letting go more people because no one is buying?

I must admit as an employer/owner in the past, I agree with this. Having employees is much like having children in that regard. It's like - you have a family to support and then you have other children to support.

It's hard to tell them to leave the nest. They like being cared for, the warmth and safety of your nest called the workplace.

That's why I am talking about that mindset - it's not healthy either way - an employee showing up asking, "Will you support me and my family?" and an employer (like me) thinking, "Gosh darn, I have all these employees to support." (when in reality, they are human capital and should be seen as helping you reach your goals.

It's hugely dysfunctional and I don't know if it's me who's the dysfunctional thinker or not, LOL.

[SnoopyCool]

Originally Posted by Scanner

What I see now are many people hoping things will "be like they used to" - auto workers, financial employees, construction.

Guess what? It ain't going to be.

My husband was one of those construction workers - had been for 22+ years. He was laid-off in October. He tried for months to get any construction job - anything from project management (what he was doing before lay-off) to labor (what he'd done prior). Nothing there. He even tried Wal-Mart, grocery stores, etc. He hit that brick wall for a few months.

This is exactly what prompted him to start a lawn care business; to hit the pavement looking for clients, then doing a knock-out job to make them happy. And while he has his ups and downs, he looks at it like this - he's being much more self-reliant. He's very practical and feels like this is the solution to the problem of relying on someone else for a job. I happen to agree.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by Scanner

I must admit as an employer/owner in the past, I agree with this. Having employees is much like having children in that regard. It's like - you have a family to support and then you have other children to support.

It's hard to tell them to leave the nest. They like being cared for, the warmth and safety of your nest called the workplace.

That's why I am talking about that mindset - it's not healthy either way - an employee showing up asking, "Will you support me and my family?" and an employer (like me) thinking, "Gosh darn, I have all these employees to support." (when in reality, they are human capital and should be seen as helping you reach your goals.

It's hugely dysfunctional and I don't know if it's me who's the dysfunctional thinker or not, LOL.

I agree. Life is rather disfunctional. We all depend on others in one way or another. Very few in reality depend on 100% themselves. Even the owners and employers and employees feel this way. It's life. We're meant to be part of a collaboration and work together for everything. I believe that this IS healthy; and living in isolation trying to do absolutely everything yourself, without help, is the unhealthy way.

I've never been an owner/employer, I admire those that are. I don't have any inclination to "lead" ; but I'd always like to learn and grow. I'm a whole lot more competitive than most of my gender (at least according to my DH), yet you seem a whole lot more driven than even me.

There's nothing wrong with it either way.... but most of the individuals "work" in order to pay the bills and do the things they would like to do outside of the workplace. We'd rather not take risks with our future and the well-being of those we help support.

I'd like to think that we all do the best that we can with whatever comes our way. We are only human and we do tend to make "nests" where we are... you know, even animals do.

[whitestripe]

i guess you could say i have 'the best of both worlds' at the moment (if you can call it that), as I have two jobs. I am employed by both as a worker, but the job I have held the longest is managing the financial side of my mum and her partners flooring installation business, so i can see what goes on in a sole-trading business, and i am technically personally invested in the venture as one day i will own half of it. my second job i have worked at for three years is at a bakery, i am employed as a cake decorator. i do not get any 'benefits' from either work really, except the compulsory 9% superannuation. i am employed on a casual rate at the bakery, so i do not get holidays, sick pay, medical etc. i get a day off when i want, to an extent, but i do not get paid for it. it is a small business, so for everything to go smoothly, everyone has to work together.
still, i like the aspect of that job being that i can sign the timesheet and leave at 1.30pm each day I am there, and then i do not have to worry about wages, how the suppliers will be paid, if the staff are bludging, if we're taking in enough money, if someone doesn't like a product they buy or theft from the business on site or fraud, the health inspector, if the staff are rude to the customers etc etc etc.

however on the other side of the scale, two days a week i go into a home office at my parents, where i have to pay my own and all the other workers wages and superannuation out of my parents bank accounts. i have to ensure that the customers have paid on time, and that i pay all of our suppliers on time. i have to make sure that money is put aside for taxes and insurance. when i answer the phone, i am talking to a customer who may potentially be purchasing flooring from ME. My wage relies on those customers. if we have no customers, i have no job. if we have no customers, i have scores of angry suppliers calling MY personal mobile to ask where their money is. while it isn't essentially my name in the end that could be bankrupt, it is my family, so i know where you are coming from when you say that it is not easy being self employed.

my personal experience with the jobless? in australia, it's probably a little different. unemployment is climbing, but it is probably not as high as in america right now, because we are not at that stage yet. but i do know that there are SCORES of unemployed people who have no drive, no desire at all, to get a job. they have no motivation, and a lot of them expect handouts. if they do have a job, they expect it to be easy.

perhaps because i have worked for family, i have a high level of expectation on myself and other workers, but when i am at work, i am there to do just that, WORK. so when i see other people standing around doing nothing, or moving at a snails pace, i don't get it. but i DO get that these are the people that either don't know how to work, or don't want a job.

I am not in any way saying that everyone that is unemployed is like that, not at all. times are tough, there are great workers out there that are having a hard time finding a job. but then there are others, who are picky about having holidays and benefits, starting times, how far it takes to drive to work, the amount of work that is required of them etc. and these are the people that are going to find it extremely tough. what is it they say? shape up or ship out!