There is no doubt that the economic fluctuations we’ve all experienced in the last few years are unprecedented. At the beginning of the pandemic there was near panic, worry that economies around the world couldn’t handle the shock. Indeed, several countries are in serious economic turmoil. Meanwhile, the economies in the US and Canada have been humming along with the lowest unemployment and signs of prosperous future. With inflation in dangerous territory and cooling measures starting to have some effect, unemployment is expected to climb, however. And we’re already seeing this in some sectors.
An economy in massive transition
Media outlets continue to lay off workers. It’s not just Tucker Carlson who is out of a job – just last week Bell in Canada laid off several hundred workers in their media division. Some more drastic predictions are that entire fields of work will be eliminated by some form of automation in the next few years. For many workers, a career change will be a necessity.
Where is your human value?
Anything that can be automated, will be. As automation becomes cheaper, it will simply make economic sense for businesses let their staff go to replace them with machines. For many businesses, the loss of those staff members will also mean a loss of intrinsic long-developed knowledge of the business. One can easily think of that key colleague who knows the pitfalls of a certain course of action. When they are gone, what happens to that knowledge?
Where are the new jobs?
Businesses that bring people in and train them for the long run place greater value in institutional knowledge. Disney is a great example of this. If you start working for Disney in one division, there are opportunities to advance when you demonstrate your devotion and work ethic. If you have the right attitude, you can advance with Disney. But this does not mean that you need to start at the bottom.
Disney has a hiring platform that lists openings for all jobs in all locations. As of today, over 900 vacancies are on their site, from all branches of the company. There are management positions and labour positions. There are jobs in costumes in Florida and “texture artists” in Vancouver.
The important thing is that a job at Disney is not a resume building exercise, although that helps too. It is a solid business that is labour intensive where, even if the position can be automated, the training you receive and the dedication you show means that there is likely an internal position to which you could move rather that lose your employment in some uncertain future scenario.
If a change of career is on the near horizon, it’s worth taking a close look at the opportunities with Disney.