With the recession snatching a record number of jobs from the work force, those left in the ranks are having to take on the work of two or three people, even being saddled with tasks far outside the realm of their job description:
In this new era of the superjob, everyone does windows, and anyone who gripes about working too hard will hear an even hairier tale from the exec on the next bar stool. Emboldened by an unemployment crisis that's only now easing up, businesses of all sizes have asked employees to take on extra tasks that have little to do with their primary roles and expertise -- with engineers going on sales calls, accountants pitching in on customer service and chief financial officers running a division on the side. And some believe this shift is permanent, as the quickening pace of change demands more flexibility from everyone at the office.
Management consultant Rich Moran, whose clients have included Apple and AT&T, says employees will do whatever it takes to help their company compete: "Job descriptions are written in sand, and the wind is blowing."
Some workplace experts say the superjob is the logical next step in management's quest to make the workplace more cost efficient. The latest shift started when businesses redistributed the workload during the recession; last year's nascent recovery intensified the process. In a recent survey by Spherion Staffing, 53% of workers surveyed said they've taken on new roles, most of them without extra pay (just 7% got a raise or a bonus). Now that sales are picking up, there's even more work to do, but companies are reluctant to hire, say human-resources experts. Some are anxious about what the economic future holds, while others are seeing their profits increase now that their work forces are leaner.
As hard as it can be to keep up, employees can benefit from the trend. Research shows that many successful leaders grew the most through "stretch experiences," says Seymour Adler, a senior vice president at Aon Hewitt's talent-and-rewards practice. Still, even the most hard-nosed bosses know workers can be stretched only so far. Indeed, a recent survey from the Conference Board found that just 43% of Americans are satisfied with their job -- a record low.
Not only are people doing double or triple the amount of work they were doing before, many people are in positions they hate, but don't risk leaving due to the slim employment rates. Professionals who think they can just "go back to waiting tables" if they find themselves out of work quickly discover those restaurant roles are long since filled.
If you are employed, have you been tasked with more or different responsibilities than you are used to due to a cut in the work force? Share your story below.
[Photo by bark]
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