Fate or free will?

As the workforce shrinks, it's interesting to see the difference between the media reports of mass layoffs and the actual ways that individuals are losing their jobs. Job seekers can easily interpret the poor economy and continuing layoffs as signs that no one is hiring, but job openings happen every day as new positions are created or as workers in critical positions leave or get fired. Here's a list of how jobseekers I work with have left their employers in the last 8 months:

1. Quit due to not getting along with supervisor
2. Fired for not making it to work (within first 2 weeks)
3. Laid off in order to make room for the owner's daughter-in-law
4. Fired for disagreements with customers
5. Quit due to not getting along with supervisor
6. Laid off for not calling in for on-call work
7. Resigned due to health complications

Of these 7, only 2 appear to have been unavoidable (#3 and #7). The others were the result of poor soft skills such as teamwork, responsibility, following procedure, punctuality and attendance. Soft-skill job coaching is clearly important for maintaining employment.

Of the 2 terminations that were unavoidable, the economy was definitely a factor in #3, which was a residential housekeeping position, a field that is losing demand in these tough times.

I know some of these positions were refilled, but I don't think they all were. Several employers have stated over the last year that they are not actively laying people off but are reducing their staff by not filling positions when individuals resign or are fired. Instead, duties and hours are being spread among the remaining employees.

While large layoffs do occur, they target specific locations and industries, which do not seem to directly include the individuals I serve in Portland. 2o minutes away (Intel, Nike, Columbia Sportswear and others), the story is different.