Labor crisis: how it arises, and what to do

How does the labor crisis arise and how can we overcome it?

All of us, when we were little and not so little, have fantasized about the idea of working in something, our dream profession. But life is sometimes hard and unfair and, no matter how much we have studied, if we have had the opportunity, we have not been able to work in what we wanted.

We have had to grasp at straws and, once we have found that job, we have entered a job crisis. a labor crisisbecause it wasn't what we wanted, but what can we do about it?

Next we are going to see more in depth the reasons that can have taken us to suffer such a crisis, besides knowing how to redirect the uncertainty and uneasiness of the not wished employment to obtain, at least, to extract the positive part from it.

Job crisis: what is it?

We all wanted to be something when we were childrenand we have tried, as much as possible, to focus on getting a job doing what we wanted to do. We may have studied everything that was necessary to get X job, or we may have worked hard to get a job doing what we wanted.

However, life is not a bed of roses, and in many occasions, obstacles appear that prevent us from working in what we wanted to do.. It may be that, despite all our efforts, we do not manage to obtain the training for the desired profession.

Other times we may have the potential to obtain the degree, but we do not have the economic resources to be able to enroll. It can also happen that we have both the money and the intelligence, but not the support of our family. and, whether we like it or not, they exert an important weight in our lives.

Whatever it is that prevents us from working in what we want, we have to get money to continue living, so we take jobs that either have something to do with what we have studied but we do not like or, directly, it is the first thing we have found because we had no other options. Regardless of how good we are at it, it is not what we wanted to be, and this can be a source of job dissatisfaction, with its consequent job crisis.

How does the crisis happen? Causes

This crisis manifests itself in the form of questions such as "What now?" "Am I going to continue working in something I don't like for the rest of my life?" "Why can't I work in what I want?". All of this comes with uncertainty, since we have no answer to such questions. Since we are animals we like the world to come well organized and planned (although it does not mean that we are organized). not knowing how our current situation will evolve makes us uneasy.. Our life does not turn out as we had planned, and we do not like it.

When we do not like a job and we are not even aware of whether we are going to last long in it, it causes job insecurity. This insecurity, which is based on job dissatisfaction and is the basis of the labor crisis, could be defined as the fear of job continuity, combined with a lack of pleasure at having to work in what we have been assigned. All this generates physical and mental discomfort, being closely related to Cardiovascular pathologies, stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms.

When a work crisis occurs, it is very difficult to know how to proceed.. This makes sense because, although we are aware that we do not like our current job, we cannot give it up because, especially in the current situation in which we live, we cannot afford to turn down a job and enter the (nowadays very murky) world of unemployment. It is up to us to "suck it up" and make do with what we have, which is better than nothing.

Leaving a job, however unsatisfactory it may be, is synonymous with economic insecurity and lack of organization of the day. As we have already mentioned above, human beings like schedules, order and organization. Stopping working implies a disorder of our time, which makes our feeling of uncertainty even worse.

What can we do?

It is very difficult to know exactly how our work situation is going to evolve.. We do not know if we will finally get to work in what we like, nor are we sure that we will keep the job we have now. However, despite all this, it is possible to look at the positive side of the situation, know how to adapt and make the most of it. Whether you have a job or not, it is possible to take advantage of the current situation.

First of all, we must understand that uncertainty, whatever our employment situation, is normal. It is an adaptive emotion, which invites us to take action and try to find a solution to our current situation. If we don't like the job we are in, maybe it's time to leave it and look for another one or consider the right time to tell our boss that we are leaving.

The problem with uncertainty is that it is often accompanied by catastrophic thoughts.. It feeds on thoughts and worries about things that have not yet happened, such as fear of never finding the job we want or not having enough money to support ourselves. It's easy to get caught up in the fear mongering, but that doesn't mean that the situation is really going to get much worse.

Secondly, it must be understood that the future is something that has not yet come, and the past is in the past. What we can control is the present. If we are employed, we are lucky because we have a salary, a salary that we can invest to expand our training and get "an escape route" from our current job.

If we don't have a job, whether or not we have the necessary training for the desired job, what are we waiting for? If we do not yet have the degree we need, the time has come to try to obtain it and, if we already have it, it is the ideal time to expand our knowledge. Maybe the reason we didn't get the job is because our resume was very poor, not very competitive with the rest of the candidates. Let's change that.

It may be that we have not obtained the necessary training due to lack of money. While there are things like a college degree that we won't get for free, there is plenty of free or low-cost online training available.

Universities such as Stanford and Oxford offer free seminars and courses, which, while they are not going to give us the opportunity to learn for free.Although they are not going to allow us to become doctors, psychologists, astronauts or whatever, they will certainly make our curriculum more attractive and, who knows, we will get a job that is related, in one way or another, to what we wanted.

Tools to help us improve

There are different applications for smartphones that can help us plan our professional and professional future. The most recommended is Meyoan app developed in Barcelona that allows you to empower yourself in the face of the prevailing uncertainty.

In this app you will have a 360º coach that will allow you to advance in every aspect that you propose, including (and especially) in the labor aspect. Through challenges and always having fun, Meyo will propose ways to improve, tips, tricks and endless resources that can give you the final push you need to focus on new professional projects.

You can download it for free:

• iOS: https://apple.co/3bfcOvr
• Android: https://bit.ly/2QB4MFr

Conclusion

Everyone can experience a career crisis in their lives.. Far from being seen as something negative, which is a source of uncertainty and stress, it should be seen as an opportunity to retrain. This can help us understand what we don't like about our job, see if we can change it, and understand what we can do to get our work life on track to our dream job.

It may take effort, money and support to get there, but never lose hope that better times will come.

Bibliographical references:

• Sora, B., Caballer, A., & Peiró, J. M. (2014) Job insecurity and its consequences in a context of economic crisis. Papeles del Psicólogo, 35(1), 15-21.