The Laid-Off Academic: Creating a New Story

 "For a number of institutions [of higher education], the year began with bad news: announcements of program and job cuts, the result of ongoing financial pressures and enrollment challenges." - Inside Higher Ed, January 2024

There are fewer "safe harbors" within academia. For example, it had been assumed that career-oriented subjects such as public and professional writing would be a secure niche to bank college-teaching on. Yet, at Youngstown State University the faculty positions in that field were among the 13 cut - right along with music. 

The faculty job security issue is projected to worsen, reports Axios. That is primarily because the number of high school graduates is expected to peak in 2025 or 2026, then decline. 

In addition, many public universities are facing the realities of state/city leadership focused on financial matters. For example, in New York City there is a push for deficit reduction. Queens College, part of the CUNY system, laid off 26 full-time faculty. 

Also to factor in is the loss of the blind faith, since the post-WWII GI bill, in higher education as the ticket to economic mobility. As The Wall Street Journal points out, no longer is the meme "college for all." 

Last night in my Toastmasters class I congratulated a young man for his choice to enroll in a training program to learn welding. "You will get a job," I said. He added, "Anywhere." When I was finishing up my Ph.D. in linguistics and literature in the mid 1970s, the bottom had also fallen out of hiring in academia, but only in certain categories. Now the hits are broader. 

Some terminated faculty will feel a bump in the road in moving on, but be able to reset a career path. Probably they have been pursuing multiple sources of income. 

Others, who have invested their earning power in the one academic position, could experience challenges in the search for other kinds of work. 

Essentially America is a pragmatic not an intellectual nation. Currently Knowledge Workers are the target for layoffs. To land on their feet, those faculty who had been one-dimensional in their careers will have to retrofit how they position and package themselves into terms of skills and the results they can achieve in the workplace. That is, they have to deliver the message to potential employers: Here's explicitly what I can do for you - better, faster and more affordably than other applicants. 

I offer complimentary consultations to terminated faculty and those insecure about the future of their employment. Please text/phone 2023-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com. 

In business and life you usually have only one shot at whatever. Up the odds of success with Jane Genova. I am an intuitive coach, tarot reader and content-creator. Complimentary consultation (please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)

 


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