In his book The Audacity of Hope, written before becoming the 44th president of the United States of America, Barack Obama told the story of visiting a town in the US called Galesburg. A major company was about to shut down production and throw 1,600 employees on to the scrap heap of unemployment.

The trade union leaders of the workers explained to Obama the tremendous sacrifices made to keep the company open. However, the sacrifices of the workers were in vain. The company relocated its operations outside of the US.

Today, in Jamaica, like the rest of the world, hardly does a day pass without announcements of, or actual redundancies taking place. Like the company in Obama's book, most of these redundancies cannot be stopped by sacrifices of the workers. The global economic recession is impacting Jamaica in ways never seen before.

Unprepared for coming storm

In my view, the worst of this recession has not yet fully hit us here in Jamaica. Unfortunately, I do not think the majority of our population is sufficiently prepared for the storm ahead. For sure, there are those like the five wise virgins whose lamps are trimmed and ready. The majority, I fear, are like the foolish virgins - unprepared to face the redundancy fever sweeping the land.

The habit of receiving a secured pay cheque every week, fortnight or month has blinded many workers to preparing for a rainy day. To those workers, their current jobs will always be there and the sunny days will never change to dark clouds. They will complain, and some with justification, that their wages are small. Their cry will always be for more pay increases, irrespective of the economic reality facing the business. The options of prudent spending, saving and investing are not the course on which they embark. Make no bones about it, there are employers who pay their employees much less than is possible; however, it is the responsibility of the worker to wisely act in ways that extricate him or her from serving a life sentence with those employers.

For many years, I have consistently and persistently preached to the workers with whom I come into contact, the wisdom of anticipating and preparing for rainy days. The acronym MAP has been used to impart the message that one day, the existing job or workplace from which one earns a living might no longer be available. It was and still is necessary for all workers to develop a MAP (My Alternative Plan) to their present status at work.

The idea behind the MAP requires each worker to ask himself/herself some simple questions: How would I survive if I lost my job today? How long will my present job be safe as it now exists? Can my job be outsourced or replaced by technology?

The answers to these questions should lead naturally to the need for workers to start working on their MAP. For the overwhelming majority of workers in Jamaica, their current job is uncertain, at best. Technology has developed at such a rapid pace that most jobs done by human beings are now being done by machines and, in most cases, more efficiently and more cost effectively.

Let us look at some examples. Who needs a cashier when you can pay by credit card over the telephone or via the Internet? Who needs anyone to inspect products in a factory when technology exists to perform such a job? I have seen trucks without drivers hauling bauxite in Australia. I have seen companies reduce their workforce and yet, produce greater volumes because of technological innovations.

Shrinking 'cheese'

The reality we face, and many still won't acknowledge, is that our 'cheese' is shrinking daily and one day it will not be available to us.

Developing a MAP will not stop these changes, but it will put us in a better position to cope with the vicissitudes of the redundancy fever.

Fortunately, those workers who were persuaded by the need to have a MAP have shown greater strength in responding to the adverse impact of the loss of jobs. They recognise that redundancy is not the end of the world. For them, redundancy opens the gate to creatively write a more positive chapter in life.

In developing their MAP, I suggest that workers consider what skills they have, but are not now using. These skills could be used to provide service to others for pay. In addition, they could consider learning new skills to meet areas of demand in the society. Starting very small businesses utilising the skills of idle hands in their households is another route available to earning additional income. This would be the foundation of a business opportunity, which could be expanded later, whether redundancy comes or not.

Education

Further and focused education is also recommended to employees. The MAP also highly encourages employees to access and positively exploit any and all training opportunities provided by companies. After all, the knowledge gained from those training courses becomes the intellectual property owned by the worker forever. No one can take that out of his head, yet he can use it anywhere he wishes for his own benefit. Naturally, developing business partnerships with co-workers or friends is a viable option in starting a business opportunity, even while still employed.

Sadly, too many workers do not think long term and miss the need to plan for the future of uncertainty, which awaits us all. Happily, however, even at this late stage when the jobless prospect approaches, I see several persons reaching out to find their MAP. This will not be the last crisis we face, so it is important that we all start preparing our plans. Our political and other leaders need to help spread the message that in the midst of this crisis, opportunities abound. These opportunities call for new ways of approaching issues. The old ways of doing things are rapidly passing away. Let us, with MAP in mind, confidently recover from the high-redundancy fever now plaguing our people.

Lambert Brown is president of the University and Allied Workers' Union and may be contacted at Labpoyh@yahoo.com. Feedback may also be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.