RE: permalancer

[Melissa Nelson <melmis36 -at- hotmail -dot- com>]

While I agree with a lot of this post...after my divorce I worked my way through a bachelors and masters degree doing this.....
 
 shifts at elder-care facilities, helping the robots that do most of the lifting and cleaningof our (boomers') failing bodies.
 
Four years in a nursing home for $9 an hour..way, way, way, way, way tougher than my technical writing job, for a lot less money! Believe me no one does this for long without a work ethic! This is also something a robot could not do!
 
Melissa



> Subject: RE: permalancer> Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:02:44 -0500> From: Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com> To: athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> > Chris Borokowski wrote:> > Or in other words, make it clear that ours is a knowledge-based> > profession and that knowledge is stored in individuals. The idea of> > workers as replaceable cogs is bad enough, but to deny the inequality> > of experience, knowledge and basic intelligence among tech writers is> > to doom us all to real boredom.> > Recent articles in the biz press and on TV are saying that the coming> crunch in employment is going to be even worse than suggested by the> absolute numbers of retiring boomers, versus the (much smaller) absolute> numbers of incoming youngsters. What they are saying is that the people> now entering the workforce have a completely different philosophy (many,> not all), and it will take two or three of them to equal the> productivity of each of the workaholic boomers that they "replace". That> means, from the point of view of the employer wanting certain work done.> Plenty of new kids have a fine work ethic, but without the "dedication"> to a career or employer. Instead, they'll work at what pleases them and> take short-term jobs when they need extra money. So, think of somebody> running a pottery shop during tourist season, because they like it, then> closing shop and taking a couple of temp jobs over the winter, just to> get by... between ski vacations... or stints working as ski-hill> staff... or maybe they'll take occasional shifts at elder-care> facilities, helping the robots that do most of the lifting and cleaning> of our (boomers') failing bodies.> In other words, hardly anybody will be willing to work 40-hour weeks at> the same job, for years at a time, becoming intimately familiar with a> particular industry and company and all the peripheral stuff that we> boomers do almost unconsciously while devoting our faculties to the> "real" part of the job.> So, management IS going to become the art of setting up automatic> procedures and of herding "cats" - temporary workers who have only> discrete skills, intelligence and willingness, but no history or> industry knowledge.> In other words, jobs will need to become plug'n'play because the worker> who is doing a job today wasn't here yesterday, and might not be here> tomorrow. > In other-other words, those of us who now find it nervous-making to face> searching for new jobs in our mid-fifties will soon find ourselves being> sought out as "golden" repositories of knowledge and understanding> beyond the rote skills of writing and using a couple of tools.> > Yeah, I know that many on this list are perpetual contractors and> actually like to spend "off" hours, as well as a percentage of paid> hours (shh!) during the final weeks/months of a contract lining up the> next contract. But many others of us are ... um.... serially monogamous> about our jobs and only start looking for new ones if the current ones> are unsatisfactory or start looking shaky. The rest of the time, we're> immersed, handling multiple projects at different stages, and enjoying> the work for which we're paid.> Kevin> > > The information contained in this electronic mail transmission > may be privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected > from disclosure. If you have received this communication in > error, please notify us immediately by replying to this > message and deleting it from your computer without copying > or disclosing it.> > > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> > Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or > printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007 > Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.> http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList> > True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.> Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical> documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com> > ---> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as melmis36 -at- hotmail -dot- com -dot- > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/melmis36%40hotmail.com> > > To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> > Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit> http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.> 
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