Labor crisis: how it arises, and what to do

All of us, from little ones and not so little ones, have fantasized about the idea of ​​working in something, our dream profession. But life is sometimes hard and unfair and, no matter how much we have studied, if we have had that opportunity, we do not manage to work what we wanted.

We have had to hold on to a hot nail and, once we got that job, we have entered into a job crisis, because it was not what we wanted but, what remedy?

Next we are going to see in more depth the reasons that may have led us to suffer such a crisis, in addition to know how to redirect the uncertainty and discomfort of unwanted employment to achieve, at least, get the most out of it positive.

• Related article: "Psychology of work and organizations: a profession with a future"

Labor crisis: what is it?

We've all wanted to be something when we were little, and we have tried, to the extent possible, to focus on achieving the desired work. We may have studied everything that was necessary to get X job, or we may have worked hard to get the job we wanted.

However, life is not a path of roses and, On many occasions, obstacles appear that prevent us from working as we wanted.. It may be that, despite putting all our efforts, we are not able to get the training for the desired profession.

Other times we may have the potential to obtain the degree, but we do not have the financial resources to be able to enroll. It can also happen that we have both the money and the intelligence, but not the support of our family and, whether we like it or not, exert an important weight in our lives.

Whatever it is that prevents us from doing what we want, we have to find money to continue living, so we take jobs that or either they have something to do with what we have studied but we do not like them or, directly, it is the first thing we have found because we did not have more options. Regardless of how good we are at it, it is not what we wanted to be, and this can be a source of job dissatisfaction, with its consequent job crisis.

How does the crisis occur? Causes

This crisis manifests itself in the form of questions such as “what now?” "Am I going to continue working on something I don't like for the rest of my life?" "Why can't I work what I want?" All this is accompanied by uncertainty, since we have no answer to such questions. Since we are animals, we like the world to come well organized and planned (although it does not mean that we are organized). Not knowing how our current situation will evolve causes us discomfort. Our life doesn't go as planned, and we don't like it.

When we do not like a job and we are not aware of whether we are going to last a long time in it, it causes us job insecurity. This insecurity, which is largely based on job dissatisfaction and is the basis of the labor crisis, could be defined such as fear of continued employment, combined with a lack of pleasure in having to work on what has given us touched. All this generates physical and mental discomfort, being closely related to cardiovascular pathologies, stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms.

When you enter into a labor crisis it is very difficult to know how to proceed. This makes sense since, although we are aware that we don't quite like the current job, we cannot give it up since, and more in the current situation in which we live, we cannot afford the luxury of rejecting a job and entering the (today very murky) world of unemployment. We have to "put up" and put up with what we have, which is better than nothing.

Leaving a job, however unsatisfactory it may be, is synonymous with economic insecurity and a lack of organization for the day. Human beings like schedules, order and organization as we have already commented before. Stopping work implies a disorder of our time, which further worsens our feeling of uncertainty.

• You may be interested in: "Existential crisis: when we do not find meaning in our lives"

What can we do?

It is very difficult to know exactly how our employment situation will evolve. We don't know if we're finally going to be able to work at what we like, nor are we certain that we're going to keep the job we have now. However, despite all this, it is possible to look at the positive side of the situation, know how to adapt and make the most of it. Whether you have a job or not, it is possible to take advantage of the current situation.

First of all, you have to understand that uncertainty, whatever our work situation, is normal. It is an adaptive emotion, which invites us to take action on the matter and try to find a solution to our current situation. If we don't like the job we are in, it may be time to leave it and look for another or consider what is the right time to tell our boss that we left him.

The problem with uncertainty is that it is often accompanied by catastrophic thoughts.. It feeds on thoughts and worries about things that haven't happened yet, like fear of never finding the job we want or not having enough money to support ourselves. It is easy to fall into tremendousism, but this does not mean that the situation is really going to get much worse.

Secondly, it must be understood that the future is something that has not yet come, and the past is past. What we can control is the present. If we have a job, we are lucky because we have a salary, a salary which we can invest to expand our training and get "an escape route" from our current job.

In the event that we do not have a job, whether or not we have the necessary training for the desired job, what are we waiting for? If we still do not have the title we need, the time has come to try to obtain it and, if we already have it, it is the ideal moment to expand our knowledge. Perhaps the reason why we have not gotten the job is because our CV was very poor, not very competitive with that of the rest of the candidates. Let's make this change.

It may be that we have not obtained the necessary training due to lack of money. Although there are things like a university degree that we are not going to win for free, there is a lot of free online training or at reasonable prices.

Universities like Stanford or Oxford offer free seminars and courses, that although they are not going to allow us to become doctors, psychologists, astronauts or whatever, of course they are going to make our curriculum more attractive and, who knows? let's get a job that is related, in one way or another, to what we wanted.

Tools that help us improve

There are different applications for smartphones that can help to plan the future work and professional. The most recommended is Meyo, an app developed in Barcelona that allows you to empower yourself in the face of prevailing uncertainty.

In this app you will have a 360º coach that will allow you to advance in all aspects that you propose, including (and especially) in the labor aspect. Through challenges and always from the fun, Meyo will propose ways to improve, tips, tricks and endless resources that can give you the definitive boost you need to focus on new projects professionals.

You can download it for free:

• iOS: https://apple.co/3bfcOvr
• Android: https://bit.ly/2QB4MFr

Conclusion

Everyone can experience a labor crisis in their lives. Far from being seen as something negative, which is a source of uncertainty and stress, it should be seen as an opportunity to recycle. This can help us understand what we don't like about our job, see if we can change it and understand what we can do to direct our working life to the work of our dreams.

We may need efforts, money and support to achieve it, but you should never lose hope that better times will come.

Bibliographic references:

• Sora, B., Caballer, A., and Peiró, J. m. (2014) Job insecurity and its consequences in a context of economic crisis. Papeles del Psicólogo, 35(1), 15-21.