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By definition, job security is the amount of job loss risk an individual has in their job. It is transient and is quite dependent on the state of the countrys economy and prevailing business conditions. It has been found the people have more job security in times of economic expansion, and less in times of a recession.
Nowadays, job security has taken on a new meaning, referring to security you plan to create with your career management skills, rather than security with a single company. The unemployment rate is a good indicator of job security along with the state of the economy, which is closely being tracked by economists, government officials and banks.
Since 2005, automotive sector jobs have experienced very low security; and since 2007, real estate and mortgage related jobs have seen a big decrease in job security. In the aftermath of the dot com boom, computer related jobs experienced a low job security, whereas the situation was just the opposite prior to that.
Typically, government jobs and jobs in education, healthcare and law enforcement are considered very secure, while private sector jobs are generally believed to offer lower security, and it usually varies by industry, location, job type and other factors. Orthodontists, dentists, surgeons, physicians, and trial lawyers are some of the few professions that truly have a sense of job security.
There are more and more people starting their own businesses due to the status of the economy, and the slow eradication of the middle class in the U.S. These masses of newbie entrepreneurs are quickly learning how easy it is to become business owners and exercise new streams of income, in the face of a falling economy.
However, in our school days, most of us were never taught to grow up and become and employer. We were traditionally taught to become the best employee. So to answer the question in the title, job security has always been a myth, when dealing with the leverage of corporate America in times of having to cut losses.
Creating currency is the bottom line of any business of profit. So even if an employee does a job exceptionally well, if the bosses feel they can hire two more employees for the price of that one employee, people can become dispensable. A better question is how much does this myth of matter to you?
