I’d like to draw your attention to an article that was published yesterday from an employee at the Los Angeles FOX affiliate television station; although I don’t know this gentleman personally, I know who he is as (let me blow my cover now) I was the first employee laid off from that very station. Yes, literally, I was KTTV FOX 11’s first casualty of cutbacks on January 15th of this year–at approximately 10:30am.
I know Mr. Sudock comes from a family of dedicated employees most whom have worked for Rupert Murdoch; some no longer due to economic conditions. We were all hard-working employees devoted to producing the best of what there was for the #2 Market in America. Mr. Sudock’s correspondence had to be written, and he did the best job of it than anybody I could imagine; I’ve seen his writing before. He is old-school and believes in strong ethical values in the workplace.
Risk Management.
As I have posted earlier, television has been relegated to consolidation beyond human limits. The halcyon days of Entertainment as an Industry, and its core values combined with what the public wants to see today have all but disappeared. This is clearly seen in the ratings and the product of what is aired today. It’s all about money. Having said that, if the quality of programming and its viewable platforms met the excellence of what used to be the workmanship required to get it on air, Entertainment would have more money, be more entertaining, and we’d all be working, but does anybody care? Top Management still gets paid a fortune, we all get that. The issue here is the stinging disconnect between the worker bee and its Queen. Given these record-breaking declining conditions, where is the additional sacrafice being made at the top when it was precisely those individuals that got the Company in hot water to begin with? Why are the employees paying with their jobs when it’s the employers’ problem? The duties and responsibilities of many are now being dog-paddled through by just one; if you can tread the water and stay above, great–if not, somebody else. Rupert might want to take a closer look at his Managers and how they conduct business instead of tying a noose around the heads of those supporting those decisions because we have to–us. However the bottom line gets carried out and maintained is his primary concern. What Mr. Sudock is driving at is quality and commitment. It is quite unnerving to see that being sacrificed, but that begs the question of how important was it anyway? Were the Executives willing to settle for less all along but got such talented staffers, why bother telling us we were working too hard?
My answer, Mark, is to stop and think for a minute. Yes, you’re the consummate workhorse, but all you’re getting fed is leftover hay and at some point, you too could be sent out to pasture. Companies have long forgotten if they don’t have healthy employees, they don’t have employees period. If you or anybody needs time off for whatever reason, take it.
“The best of the best are being furloughed. Those who survive will no longer be practicing their craft. Those who survive will be working outside their skill set; immersed in on-the-job training crash courses; attempting to keep the product as clean and presentable as they can.”
Apply Yourself First, and then Apply for The Job.
Here, ladies and gentlemen, sets all the ground work for why it is critically vital that we take a look at where your last job went or is going. Mark Sudock hits a grand slam and further proves my point as to why I started this website and blog. Looking for what you left is pointless because someone else is already doing it. If that person leaves, you’ll now need to know what you left, its changes and everything else that other person was doing before they left. Jobs have become exponential monsters of their former entities. Take a long stare at this and see where your last position is pointing. If you can possibly learn now, while you have the time, what others are being thrown into the fire to do without a breath of air or a moments notice, you will be forward-thinking and ready to take on the job, anew. Now the problem does exist that you have no professional experience doing what you just empowered yourself to master, but who else out there does? You, as a minimum, have seen the changes and challenges and applied yourself to meet them head on.
Meet and confront the challenges of today by looking at past issues and concerns of yesterday. Guaranteed you will gain and learn nothing by moving laterally…if you even can. People who have found work recently are those who have completely reinvented themselves and are self-employed for the most part. They have found ways to fix problems they have come across in their past and are doing something with it. Study the weaknesses within and go through the stumbling blocks that prevented you from further success in your last position and do your utmost to reverse that tendency. You have nothing to lose but time, and I think we’ve all wasted too much of that precious commodity. Let’s put everything we have into this and take charge of the job search. Share your thoughts with others and ask for their help.
What I gravely fear is the situation these executive hatchets will face when their businesses are in growth mode; all that talent and decades of experience is gone forever. How will they get back on their feet? Revive and upright a dying breed? Hope for the best? You get what you pay for and they’re not paying much lately.
The Station and the Corporation operations are all too familiar to me and the letter will fall on deaf ears; I’m not really sure if the letter was truly meant to be answered, but again it needed to be brought forward. I have been witness to broad generalizations of statements made by FOX Officials. Just because it’s in writing, doesn’t always mean it’s entirely applicable to any one Business if at all.
“I’m a catalyst for change. You can’t be an outsider and be successful over 30 years without leaving a certain amount of scar tissue around the place. “
~ Rupert Murdoch
Thanks again for surfing my wave!
Why Just Look For A Job? Create One!™
TheUnemployMENTOR – email@theunemploymentor.com
