What’s Career ‘Failure’ Today May Mean Success Tomorrow

It’s commencement time, and visions of job offers dance in the heads of young men and women as graduation speakers tell of the wonderful career opportunities that await them.

However, today these visions are less clear than they once were. This is also the case for many in their 40s and 50s who find themselves writing resumes they never thought they’d need. As corporate reorganizations, massive layoffs, technological changes and shifts to overseas production have created turbulence in the job market, there has emerged what some have called “career malaise.”

This sense of anxiety, confusion and worry is understandable. Historically, a good education and hard work were assumed to lead to success--or at least the security of lifetime employment. But what were once well-paved career paths now appear to be full of bumps and detours.

The bumps and detours--the need to move down or sideways for a time, or to return to school to be retrained or refocused--are in many ways related to the dramatic decrease in career opportunities in manufacturing, once the stronghold of upward mobility for skilled laborers and middle managers.

Peter Drucker estimates that employment in manufacturing will drop to less than 12% of the work force in the next 10 years as the United States continues to shift to a service economy.

At the same time, jobs in the commercial banking and thrift industry will decline 30% to 40%, predicts Andersen Consulting. Retail giants such as Sears and others are eliminating large numbers of workers, as are the defense industry and some computer firms. Government continues to shrink; even the military, once a bastion of career opportunities, is no longer a place where advancement is assured.

Meanwhile, in professions such as law, accounting, medicine and education, there are new concerns about making partner, making tenure and making money. Truly, the future--even for those with good educations and solid experience--ain’t what it used to be.

This career malaise is responsible for doctors’ returning to school to obtain MBAs so they can switch from providing health care to managing it. It’s responsible for teachers’ leaving their chosen profession for the business world.

Lawyers and accountants are departing or not joining large, established firms, instead creating their own, or taking positions with start-up companies, where potential stock options hold hope for economic payoffs.

In other words, there is a sense that career planning requires the contemplation of alternative routes and a growing acceptance that choosing a career path is like exploring a number of roads that ultimately lead to different destinations.

All this is occurring at the same time that both men and women are expressing a desire to balance work and family and are seeking psychological as well as economic rewards for their work.

Under the circumstances, perhaps the twists and turns that yesterday were evidence of failure will be seen tomorrow as the source of career enhancement.

It’s conceivable that as employees become more flexible and accepting of change, and as they are willing to shift their sights and career plans, corporations and government agencies will in turn become more adaptable and productive. They will no longer be dependent on traditional sources of talent and will be more likely to value those who do not fit the traditional image of the career employee. Executives will not only talk about, but make sure that it’s possible for, men and women to balance work and family. They will invest in professional cross-training, knowing it helps employees as well as companies. They will realize that sabbaticals and opting for occasional part-time work has less to do with a lack of commitment and more to do with emotional burnout.

So, as the commencement voices join the chorus of those attempting to reduce career anxiety, it might be well to think about the upside of the new reality. Today’s career anxiety may be tomorrow’s freedom to experiment. We may be on the verge of new definitions of success. Comfort with ambiguity may become a sought-after professional characteristic. Should this be the case, it could mean more flexible and happier employees--and stronger, more productive American firms.