Human resources

I think I'll start this post of on a cynical note: anyone who thinks that large multinational corporations feel any loyalty toward their employees is delusional. I think the idea of job security and company loyalty went out the door decades ago. That being said, the converse is this: how loyal does one have to be to their employer? Several months ago, we had this discussion at work about how everyone was their own "business" with their own skill sets that they can charge a value for. I guess the idea would be to develop oneself to make themselves and their "business" more marketable and valuable. Great theory. I say, develop yourself as much as you can and always keep an eye on where your skills can offer you the most for your time. Because, seriously, time is short, cubes suck, and to paraphrase Office Space, "We just aren't meant to live like this."

I'm not necessarily that bitter about my job; this relates more to the situation my brother is dealing with right now. The company he's worked for has changed hands so many times I have a hard time keeping track. However, his company sold his division to someone else, and God knows what they'll end up doing with the employees. And of course, the higher ups aren't really saying much. So, my brother is in limbo, careerwise. It's not like that he's so low on the totem pole...he's a Director of Finance of his division, and yet he still gets dicked around. I'm sure there's some rationale for all of it, but that rationale involves treating people more "resource" than "human."

He doesn't necessarily want to leave Jersey, and he'll undoubtedly get a job fairly quickly, but we chatted about where he'd want to go if he had to move. Knoxville, TN came into the picture, as the cost of living is quite reasonable and the city (and resulting opportunities) is growing very fast. Of course, if he left, I'd have a hard time convincing myself that I should stay. I'd go down to Knoxville in a heartbeat, unless I managed to get an exceptionally cool job in NYC and found an interesting Graduate program somewhere. Many things to think about.

Overall, it sucks to have the future of a job out of your hands.