An article in yesterday's Sanford Herald referenced three points made by David Clegg, deputy chairman for the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina at a luncheon sponsored by the Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce on Monday.
The three key points confirm previous posts about the jobless situation in Lee County.
- The published unemployment rate for Lee County seriously underestimates true number of people unemployed.
- The nature of work is changing.
- "There has to be a significant redefinition of what you do."
According to Clegg , about 5% (about 1/2 again) needs to be added to the state unemployment to account for individuals not tracked by the ESC because they have given up looking for a job. That would bring Lee County's nearly 12% reported rate to approximately 18% and increase the 3100 reported unemployed to all most 4600 people--an estimate long suggested by the Lee Dispatch and its editor. He also noted that people where being forced to "look at jobs they had never considered before."
Previous posts and public comments by the editor have urged leaders to recognize that the nature of the work force is rapidly changing. Clegg pointed out contract labor is one of the fasted area of growth in employment supports posts based on a Fortune article in which William Bridges wrote"As a way of organizing work, it [ the job] is a social artifact that has outlived its usefulness. Its demise confronts everyone with unfamiliar risks -- and rich opportunities." Contract labor is called the "nontraditional labor force" by ESC and"contingent labor" by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
One example is what happened when the nature of watch making change.
Paradigm shifts rarely come from the industry establishment. Such paradigm shifts change the rules so much that all the players go back to zero. The winners come from those who foresee it and act quickly to exploit the new reality.
When seen in the proper context, the Chamber's luncheon could be a turning point for Lee County if the message is interpreted from the proper perspective.
Editors note: The ability to recognize and act on this paradigm shift is crucial to employers, workers, education, and leaders of all types. A great resource is available at this link. Just take a look at one of the videos. It could easily be the best 30 minutes you have spent in the already 11 years of the 21st century.
Previous posts and public comments by the editor have urged leaders to recognize that the nature of the work force is rapidly changing. Clegg pointed out contract labor is one of the fasted area of growth in employment supports posts based on a Fortune article in which William Bridges wrote"As a way of organizing work, it [ the job] is a social artifact that has outlived its usefulness. Its demise confronts everyone with unfamiliar risks -- and rich opportunities." Contract labor is called the "nontraditional labor force" by ESC and"contingent labor" by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
By engaging contract workers, organizations are able to be agile and save costs. The contingent workforce acts as a variable workforce for companies to select from to perform specific projects or complete specialized projects.[1] Also as organizations make efforts to be more agile and to quickly respond to change in order to be more competitive, they turn to the contingent workforce to have on-demand access to professionals and experts.[2] Organizations also see the opportunity to reduce benefits and retirement costs by engaging the contingent workforce.[3]The statement by Clegg that the way in which we do things must be a "significant" change but it understates the nature of the change.This change is a paradigm shift--a completely new way in looking at something; in this case the perception of how income will be earned with work.
One example is what happened when the nature of watch making change.
Switzerland had long been the world leader in watch production and sales. With a host of well-known brands extending from economical to luxury products, Swiss watchmakers had enjoyed a reputation of fine craftsmanship. The world's first quartz watch prototypes were first developed by the Swiss in 1967. Despite this head start, the Swiss watch industry as a whole failed to see the enormous market potential of the quartz watch. Sure of their leadership, they focused instead on improving the existing mechanical technology, and allowed its engineers to show the watch at a trade show—where it was seen by Seiko and Texas Instruments saw the technology and recognized its potential Although the Swiss were the first to make a quartz watch prototype, crucially, the Japanese Seiko 35SQ Astron was the first analogue quartz watch to reach the market on Christmas Day 1969. The quartz revolution, a paradigm shift in watch technology, resulted in the number of Swiss watch companies dropped from about 1600 in 1970 to 600 today.Just this month, Eastman-Kodak filed for bankruptcy. It originated the digital camera but stayed married to its original concept of capturing images on paper. Now its gone and every organization can learn from this brief article about its demise.
Paradigm shifts rarely come from the industry establishment. Such paradigm shifts change the rules so much that all the players go back to zero. The winners come from those who foresee it and act quickly to exploit the new reality.
When seen in the proper context, the Chamber's luncheon could be a turning point for Lee County if the message is interpreted from the proper perspective.
Editors note: The ability to recognize and act on this paradigm shift is crucial to employers, workers, education, and leaders of all types. A great resource is available at this link. Just take a look at one of the videos. It could easily be the best 30 minutes you have spent in the already 11 years of the 21st century.
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