I’m fielding calls from family and friends this week: “Are you still employed … I heard IBM is laying everyone off.”
The short answer: Yes … I’m stilling working for the man.
I do appreciate everyone’s concern. I’m a little mad at Lee Conrad, however, for whipping up the media to disrupt my life and scare my family. Mr. Conrad, national coordinator for Alliance@IBM and his pro-union group gets far more press than they deserve. What credentials does Lee have to be considered a voice for IBM employees? He’s not my voice.
My buddy Eddie and I determined to never join a union after we took our first economics class at Rollins College. Unions broke the back of General Motors and other companies by exerting leverage to negotiate benefits that were out of line with market forces. Personally, I’d readily accept a pay or benefit cut in return for a pay check tomorrow. Do you think a union would represent my personal interests in that negotiation?
Big Head in Field of Love Flowers by Craig Carlisle
My Plan to Get a Big Head of Human Capital
I can’t control whether or not I will remain with IBM. If I get a pink slip … so be it. I view myself as a tightly wound golf ball of human capital that can bounce around the marketplace. As Napolean dynamite would say, “I’ve got skills.” And that in a nutshell describes my plan to remain gainfully employed in the future. Dr. Hill, my economics professor at Rollins, convinced us that “education is the one thing you’ll never lose. You may lose money in the market, you may lose your job, but your education will be safely locked away in your head.”
Railing at IBM or the government isn’t productive. On the other hand, spending our limited free time gaining education, skills, and talents is highly productive. I wish Lee Conrad would use his bully pulpit to preach this message. Human capital is precious and always will be.
If you are a parent, extol the merits of education to your kids.
If you are still in school, take your studies seriously.
If your company offers education opportunities. Take them.
IBM has paid me a fair wage for a fair days work for 25 years. We’re even. On second thought, I’ve gotten much more from IBM than they will ever wring out of me because they can never take way the education and lessons I’ve stored safely away in my head.
