When people talked about the Great Depression, the words used echoed the loss of hope. It was resounding pain that enveloped the discussions, as if all paths led to no where. The Recession, on the other hand, was met with continued talks of moving forward and rebuilding, as if the pain it resulted in either did not exist or it did not matter. Because the Great Depression hit the richest to the poorest, while the Recession seemed to hit the poorest to the middle income folks, leaving the rich fairly untouched. In essence, leaving those that control the voice of media un-phased.
After several rounds of layoffs at large institutions, we got a copy of an article in the mail that left us angry and unnerved by the way the Recession and those being affected by it were treated. The article joked about the Recession and told everyone that their highly valued degrees were no longer of any use. That perhaps they should jump on the “fast-food” train to pay back that student debt. It poked fun at recent college grads and essentially indicated that this generation had no future.
But in the articles that poked fun and those that talked Recession “fluff” without ever trying to search for solutions to the aching parts of unemployed, a new realization started to emerge. The Recession was so very different from the Depression because the rules were now different. It wasn’t that our pain was being ignored by the entitled, it was that the pain was being utilized by each affected person to fuel their growth towards a better future. A future of less complacency and gray and more colors and opportunities. Because the Recession was giving us a tool we didn’t have before: the ability to set our own rules.
What the Lay-Offs Said
In the Depression, everyone was hit and everyone was trying to claw their way up. Industries suffered across the board. Similarly, the Recession caused panic, layoffs and short-termed strategies by less-than-visionary company executives. These executives tried to pass the layoffs as purely economic, blacklisting the laid off individuals as “dead weight” for the company. Then, consequently, articles were published in industry media quoting (on condition of anonymity of course) these executives calling laid off individuals as “dead weight.”
“I was mortified to hear a law partner say that the people laid off should go to other industries because they were more or less black listed,” said Anjali Patel of Connecticut. ”Most of these people were first and second years. They didn’t have even a chance to show what they are capable of.”
In the large scheme of things these decisions had two effects: (1) it made the laid off individual separate themselves from the pack and work harder to end up at a company that they are actually valued; and (2) it left a searing mark in the psychologies of every individual who heard about what companies did merciless layoffs – making it harder to recruit when the economy picks up.
“There are companies now that I would work 90 hour weeks for without blinking because I know they watch out for their own. Other companies, I won’t even consider – no matter what they pay – because there is no semblance of job security or employee loyalty. By letting people go they lost the cream of the crop that they had worked hard to recruit. It’s their loss,” notes Ajay Patodi from Washington D.C.
When the Dust Clears
In looking towards the future, it makes sense to look back at what happened – from the choices made in the Great Depression to still-fresh memories of what is going on in the Recession. It becomes a tool for learning more about yourself, where you want to work and what you want out of life. It’s not just about finding a silver lining of where you are stuck working.
“Before the Recession, I was stuck in a rut at my old job. I had been there for six years and I was good at what I did, but I hated the work environment and the politics,” remembers Qaiyanat Jaffrey. ”My lay-off was a slap in the face from an exec who didn’t like my assertiveness. I was unemployed for a year trying to figure out what I wanted – and now I love my job.”
The Recession gave this generation the ability to make a difference and once again own their destinies, instead of clamping on to the well-paying job that was so far away from intellectually challenging or personal appealing. ”It’s forced us to have something to fight for, and when the smoke clears, the ones who learned skills as opposed to simple brown nosing are the ones that will find themselves making their way to the top,” says Patodi.
Well – here’s hoping, rigt?
