How to increase your job security and reduce stress and worry

Poorly paid, overworked, no job security.

Thousands of job losses.

Robots will take our jobs. We have to plan now before it’s too late.

The gig economy is growing whether you like it or not.

These are some headlines that we are constantly exposed to. They are causing anxiety, stress and worry amongst many workers and parents.

The tipping point for me was when I found out that my friends and colleagues over 50 who lost their jobs due to an organisational restructure couldn’t find work after that.

So, what’s really going on?

Job security is not dead

First off, let me just say that there are strategies for you to increase your job security and reduce your stress and worry.

Job security is not dead contrary to popular belief.

It will take some work and commitment on your part, if you want to secure your job, and be job-ready and future-ready.

You have to anticipate the future, acquire the relevant knowledge and skills to reduce your risk, and take action to future-proof yourself and secure your job and income.

Future-proofing is the process of understanding and anticipating the future and minimising the effects of shocks and stresses of potential future events on jobs, careers, and employment using appropriate strategies and plans that are tailored to individual circumstances and personalities.

Here’s the thing.

People do not plan to fail. They just fail to plan.

Fear about the future is okay, but complacency kills jobs and incomes and increases stress and worry.

One of my personal goals is to be job-ready and future-ready. This should increase my job security.

So, what are your goals related to the future?

Understand and overcoming challenges ahead

As the sole breadwinner in my late 40s working in a full-time job and having to support a family with five beautiful children, we are living in challenging times.

I know that the future of work is going to be very different.

In my desire to know more about these challenges for myself (and to share them with you), I have documented evidence of no less than 62 challenges in an e-Book, Shocking Secrets Every Worker Needs to Know: How to future-proof your job, increase your income and protect your wealth in today’s digital economy. (This book is available from Amazon.)

Apart from benefiting myself, the knowledge gained in researching and writing this e-book has given me the confidence to guide my own teenage children as to their study and career choices.

If you are a parent, let me ask you this: Do you know what to tell your teenage children if they ask you for career advice?

Yesteryear’s “study hard, work hard, go to university, get a job” advice isn’t reality anymore.

A couple of years ago, my children were approaching their teens. It became evident to me that I really didn’t know much about the future of work, the gig economy, and how many external factors could impact me personally, my children and my family.

Rather than being ignorant and adopting a hope and pray strategy, I went on a knowledge acquisition journey to future-proof and secure my job, my income, and my family.

Based on techniques that I used as a risk expert, I developed and applied a simple process to my personal situation.

I had to anticipate how the future should look like for me personally given my current situation, location, and circumstances.

Any gaps to bridge my current and future states were identified. This could include gaps in my knowledge, skills, and employability.

To close these gaps, I acquired knowledge, skills, and competencies.

Finally, I acted on the knowledge gained. I applied myself so that I can move closer towards my desired end state.

Here are some illustrations of how the process could be applied to your own life.

I anticipated that real estate is going to be the tangible but finite asset that everyone will need in the future.

When I wanted financial freedom for myself and family by investing in real estate, I read and attended seminars on property investing. This has led me to purchase some rental properties.

I anticipated that professional qualifications will increase my job security and future employability.

After completing two post-graduate professional studies related to my profession and my job, I had increased my knowledge and value to my employer.

In doing so, I have also increased my job security.

I am anticipating that starting a side business while in full-time employment will future-proof me. This is an ongoing journey and I invite you to join me on this journey.

After researching and watching 2,340+ videos published on the Internet and by gurus on how to make money and about the different money making strategies and business models, I realised that the Internet has given so many people the opportunity to make money without much investment.

I have also documented all this strategies and business models on my blog.

My personal goal was to compile the most comprehensive list of money making ideas on planet earth! (hence the name of the blog).

Practical steps to increase your job security

The future of work will be so different from today’s working environment and workplaces due to influences from automation, artificial intelligence, robotics, demographic changes, and income inequality.

These changes will be inevitable.

It’s not a question of if but when.

Therefore, we should be taking the initiative to anticipate the future and put in place mitigation plans now to overcome these challenges before it is too late.

Rather than waiting, anticipating these inevitable changes and challenges will require answers to these key questions:

1. How can I future-proof my job and increase my job security?
2. How can I increase my income?
3. How can I preserve my wealth and income streams?

We know that the demand for workers who perform routine and manual tasks will significantly reduce over time through the use of automation, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

Instead, there will be significant increases in demand for workers who will spend vast amounts of time focusing on people, solving problems, and thinking creatively.

The key to understanding the future of job security is the need to solve complex problems, adding value, creatively finding new products and services through innovations, and better social interaction at a human level as more machines come into contact with our lives.

Machines need human!

The bottom line is that our future income streams and employability will solely depend on how well we have continuously upgraded our knowledge and skills, how we have effectively adapted to the constant changes that are occurring around us, and how we have positively nurtured our attitudes and mindsets to embrace these potential changes and the future of work.

Here are some general steps that you can take to secure your job (and income) and to remain employable and job-ready well into the future either as an employee, freelancer, or contractor.

1. Conduct an environmental scan to determine what external factors or challenges that may negatively impact your occupation and job in your current location, the industry that you are currently working in, and your employer’s ability to overcome these challenges.
2. Conduct a personal skills gap analysis of what you currently have and what skills you required in the future as your job, occupation, and industry evolve over time to cope with rising automation (artificial intelligence and robotics), changing demographics, and increasing income inequality.
3. Implement your strategies and action plans ruthlessly to close any skill gaps identified by taking into account potential negative factors identified during your environmental scan.