Moving on seems to be a trend. Just yesterday a good friend told me how he'd gone into a bloke's office early in the morning and offered his services. Then went back to the current boss and said "I'm out of here", after occupying his job on a temporary basis for some 6-12 months after it was meant to be filled permanently.
Today another friend e-mails me to say that she'd given herself ten years in her current work environment, but the signs are that there's not a lot of interest in new ideas or good research. So she's looking to move on. A young family that she'd like to spend more time with, the potential to be self-employed and trade on her reputation in her field, and a lot less daily bullshit. Sounds tempting.
Another work colleague into whose office I poked my nose earlier in the week asked me what I was going to do, as a few other friends do from time to time.
Some of these people probably don't need to worry too much where the next quid is coming from, but some do. Certainly the effects of a buoyant economy include the increasing choice of what you can spend your time doing.
Rather than the economic perspective, it's more the personal that I am finding intriguing although the links are inevitable. Looking for self-actualisation, some greater feeling of being valued, as well as flexibility or lifestyle or whatever, seems to be driving some of these decisions. However, the economic imperatives around us will influence what we do. For example, after a period where people seemed to be retiring earlier, now we might need to work for longer: for example, as home ownership becomes more difficult for many Gen Xers, the oldies might need to lend a hand. Only the privileged would be able to do this on a retirement income.
Certainly, many don't want to retire anyway but would rather take on some part time or voluntary work.
I see I have quite quickly strayed from my original story about people changing jobs for a better balance between income and sanity, and retirement. The balance between income and sanity has always been with us I guess: the truly passionate/devoted can follow their dreams and live on gruel, the rest of us have to get on the treadmill to a greater degree. Seems like a few are looking for a better treadmill, though.
Finally, when you work for the rich and famous it's almost inevitable you're going to get it in the neck sooner or later. I was tickled by this little story from the SMH - sounds like Mrs Murdoch has her own way of parlaying her influence:
'Not many people can influence Rupert Murdoch. And there's only one Wendi Deng in the world. A Los Angeles Times report this week paints an interesting image of Deng's role in the multibillion-dollar empire of her husband, Rupy. "Deng's effect on Murdoch also should not be underestimated," the paper reports. " Deng, who is of Chinese descent, hired feng shui experts to rid the [Murdoch-owned Direct TV] El Segundo headquarters of bad vibes. Murdoch had installed a new president, but the feng shui experts felt his office overlooking the ocean and the mountains was unlucky. So he was moved to an office with a view of a parking garage and a sewage treatment plant."'
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Very challenging that work life balance. My wife works for the Commonwealth and has flexible arrangements. I work 3 days equivalent in a professional environment and take care of shuttling kids around . The challenge is getting my work colleagues to remember that I am not full time and loading me up with a full time work load. It is a cultural issue for my organisation and for me to manage.
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