Confess: this headline is an attention getter. Peter Hecht used this headline on a piece published Sunday in the Sacramento Bee. There are many in Silicon Valley offering to work for no pay and a chance to start over. Mr. Hecht chronicles the efforts of a 39 year old Stanford MBA entrepreneur. Technology gurus in the Valley are having difficulty finding jobs and startup funding.
Will this “work for free” approach reach the Triangle or other geographic areas? Actually some people here are working for no pay now. They are people recognizing the futility of finding the perfect job now, full of a desire to be engaged in something, building skills, staying current, and positioning themselves for an economic recovery. They seem to understand that a period of prolonged unemployment can devastate your skills and resume.
Contrast that approach to one with nearly 100% focus on finding a job, constantly networking and relentlessly searching job banks. Visit a few networking events and notice the absence of the unemployed under the age of 40. It seems the majority of participants are richly skilled ex corporate executives sporting a bit of gray hair, severance exhausted, living on unemployment benefits. It is not evidence of age bias in the layoffs, but evidence the 2 populations are responding to this economic challenge differently.
Involved in a wide range of business activities, I see other evidence of the differences. The younger population seems more flexible, pragmatic, and adaptable? They more eagerly entertain the idea of starting at the bottom, working part time, or even working without pay? The over 40 crowd traumatized by the layoffs, is slower to adjust, a bit disillusioned, and tempted to bypass available lower level jobs intent on getting a job equal to the one they had before.
Why is there such a difference? Invested in long careers, many of the over 40 crowd, grieving their jobs loss, are going through steps of the “mourning curve”. This curve is widely used as a way to understand and explain the grieving process. The stages of the mourning curve can be separated into 3 periods. The first period (denial, anger, and nostalgia) is about dealing with the loss. The second period (fear) is about the motivation to move forward. The third period (bargaining, choice, readjustment and commitment) is about a new beginning. Considering the attributes described above, the older group is likely in period 1 of the mourning curve. They have yet to reach the “fear” period and the motivation to make adjustments.
Perhaps this explains the differences. Those more invested in long careers, traditional structures, and large salaries are forced through this grieving process. This also explains their interests and efforts to keep things the way they were. Will the structural changes happening now be permanent? Those willing to work without pay or taking other nontraditional approaches, seem to be betting on a future of continued change. Those following more traditional approaches seem to be betting on a familiar future. As for me, I am hedging my bets. Only time will provide the answers.
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