Job security, in a recession where more than 10% are unemployed, is under attack. In a poll reported by the August, Money Magazine, the numbers are enlightening, but not encouraging. Here are the results:
20% feel extremely secure in their job.
35% feel fairly secure in their job.
19% feel a little insecure in their job.
26% feel not secure at all in their job.
The conclusions represent slightly over 57,000 responses from New Yorkers, so they're merely pointers when it comes to the rest of the country. They'd be quite different in Nevada, where unemployment is something like 12% and more than 170,000 residents looking for work. In contrast, North Dakota has a 4.6% unemployment with companies looking for workers. If you can stand the wind and cold, you might think about moving.
So, really, how am I to make sense of these figures? Those of who are social scientists know that there are two very important issues that factor into a poll like this.
Consider the psychology of the individual giving the response. Some people, for any number of reasons, are more secure than others in most any job situation. Sometimes it's because they've had successful experience with job loss, have worked on their competencies so that they're readily transferable, or they have a big slush fund they can draw on should they find themselves jobless. Your general psychological health has a big impact on your fears, often more than the environment.
Just as important, though, is the company environment, and poll figures don't take that into their purvey. People in the banking industry have more reasons to be insecure about job loss than most physicians. In other settings such as union-oriented companies, certain educational districts, or governmental jobs, there's a good amount of inherent security.
Why does Money Magazine do this? Since most of us go nutty over statistics, it's a great way for a magazine to create dissonance and keep the reader coming back. It's little different than getting hooked by serialized "soaps." (Are all soaps serialized?)
The real issue of this post was to get you thinking about how you view statistics. What do you do with stats when you come upon them? It's an important issue related to the quality of your decision making.
The poll, however, is meaningless.