THE UNWELCOME LESSON FROM THE RBC-iGATE SAGA

Companies focus on making profits for their owners. They look for cost savings. They can save money by hiring people in other cities, provinces or countries. Outsourcing is another way. How that’s done may not matter as much as the money saved.

We like saving money too. The plight of the local mom & pop stores isn’t as compelling as the savings at the big box stores.

Outrage

This week, Canadians are outraged by RBC bringing in 45 temporary foreign workers to replace current employees. Okay … but 18 of the 50 largest employers do too. Is that a surprise?

In all, about 33,000  employers participate including: Air Canada, Bank of Canada, Bell, Blackberry, BMO, Bombardier, Canadian Tire, CanJet, CBC, CN Rail, CP Rail, Deloitte, Enbridge, Fairmont Hotels, Girl Guides, Hudson’s Bay, Loblaws, Lululemon, Manulife, Maple Leaf Foods, McDonalds, Porter Airlines, Rogers, Rona, Scotiabank, Shoppers Drug Mart, SNC Lavalin, Sobeys, Suncor, Sun Life, Sears, Shaw, TD Bank, Telus, Thompson Reuters, Tim Hortons, TransCanada and Walmart (see The Globe and Mail and Huffington Post both for Apr 12, 2013)

“Without the employment program, many Tim Hortons restaurants would not be able to operate full time or, in many cases, remain open at all.”
— Tim Horton’s spokesperson

Really? Concerns fade with time. Life goes on much as before.

Dig Deeper

The deeper lesson is that job security is not guaranteed even if you have one of the best jobs or the passion of Guillermo de Toro. How a job disappears isn’t very relevant. Gone is gone. Companies fail too. Bad happens. How do you protect yourself? Why not stay employable and reduce your financial risks?

Employable

Staying employable requires upgrades in your skills. Sorry. I still keep seeing people who aren’t more prepared for the job market than they were five years ago. They don’t bother networking or updating their LinkedIn profiles until they need a job. Too late. You can’t harvest seeds you haven’t planted and nurtured.

Your Risks

We have a habit of being unprepared. After Sandy, 50% to 67% of homeowners found they were underinsured. We need to prepare in advance.

Links

• Temporary foreign worker impacts felt far beyond RBC (CBC News, Apr 12, 2013)
• RBC didn't plan for outsourcing backlash: PR expert (CTV News, Apr 12, 2013)
• Be proactive within your circle of concern
• The best and worst jobs
• To ways to stay visible (and employable)
• Unintended lessons from three entrepreneurs
• The perils or pyramids and multilevel marketing
• Escape from the cage of mediocrity
• The talent myth-conception
• Tips to bulletproof your job
• image courtesy of UBE

Podcast 215

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PS We weren’t expecting snow this week but we had some on our patio furniture for two days.