At least, not for me.
For my contact though, he is going to get a free lunch on me today, with no obligation for anything at all. However, I am going to try to convince him that he should hire me to do some work with his people on any number of things, from developing key personnel along their career path, to extending their ability to deliver AI solutions. Having wide-ranging experience is both a benefit and a drawback, because while it is possible to cover a lot of ground, it also can appear unfocused - especially to people who are focused on specialised areas without having to consider the entire ecosystem.
The current employment situation in Finland is pretty terrible at the moment in many ways, but this doesn't mean that companies are necessarily struggling. It is more that there are increased options to create workforce efficiencies through automation, which means that even if they don't fire people, they may not have to hire people either. This has resulted in a decrease in job posts across the board, and an unemployment rate of 9.4% in the country. Finland has a high degree of highly educated people - many of whom can't find work.
Often when people talk about "retraining" when technology reduces jobs, it is under the assumption that the jobs being lost are in less skilled positions, like manufacturing. But this is not the case currently. There are a lot of engineers out of work in Finland, but what are they going to retrain into - what is a suitable pathway, how long does that retraining process take - and after it all, what are their prospects of finding a job, considering their age and experience?
And given their age and experience now, they have likely built up a lifestyle that requires maintenance that they can no longer afford, and this is going to have long-ranging effects on all kinds of economic ecosystems, from housing markets to investments, to consumer spending. And all of this has an impact on income taxes, social security spending, and reduction in social services. Yet, while this happens at the personal and country level - the corporations are still making profits.
While decreasing their tax liabilities.
Government taxes on people might be theft, but what is it called when the government that is meant to be working for the people, sanction corporate reduction of their tax liabilities to increase profits for shareholders, at the expense of the people? They aren't breaking the law, but they are breaking the social contract of society. Even if taxes remain, the entire tax system had to be overhauled to ensure taxes are paid, and they are paid on the country where the revenue is earned.
A topic for another day.
For now, I should get my head into gear for lunch, because it is part social, part interview, and part sales discovery. Social is fine, but I have to be able to exhibit skill ad the ability to deliver value, by honing in on what their needs are now, and heading into the future. I a weighing up my options as which path I take. At this point, I think it will be about improving their delivery process and skills, to realise a faster time to value. But, it is going to depend heavily on what comes up, because they might need something quite different, like professional language support, or facilitation skill development.
He has chosen the place, which is not far from his office and he has been kind on me - it is just a normal restaurant. I know many people who will want the most expensive restaurant, and then order the most expensive thing on the menu, even if they don't like it. They think it is a test of seriousness - I think it is petty. The test isn't how much someone will pay for lunch, it is how much positive impact they will bring to the business.
Humans are emotional creatures.
We don't make our decisions rationally, we made them on how we feel. Even financial decisions. Ad even those we aren't making for ourselves.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Good luck.
Whatever the result ends up being, testing your sales capabilities and listening to his response will be a great outcome from the meeting.
It went as expected, where they don't have the ability to hire me right now. But, it was a good conversation still at least and perhaps there is something in the future.
Best of luck to you on your meeting. I hope it goes well. At the very least I am sure you will have some great conversation to come back and share with us. It's got to be hard when you are used to making a certain amount in salary. It's not that he jobs aren't there, but the jobs in the pay range they want might not be there. I remember when I got laid off, I had to take a pay decrease from what I made before I got laid off to work where I still am today.
This I did get out of it. It is interesting to get so many wide-ranging voices saying much the same thing from their experiences.
Yeah it is. And, we were just starting to finally pull ahead on things. Who knows, maybe something will come up that will make it all worth it.
I hope things do turn around for you. We all definitely have a lot more in common that we would like to admit sometimes. The perspective might be a little different, but the human experience is the same.
Hope all goes the way you want it to!
It went the way I thought it would in the end. Not bad, but not what I wanted from it :)
Yes, the situation is grim and AI doesn´t make it better. Remote working however is creating new possibilities by applying to jobs Europe-wide and more and more companies are considering talent across borders. At least I had the luck and got a decent job this way.
What field are you in at the moment?
pharma industry
I think that this situation will be even worse in the near future. If population growth rate slows much more down and the population gets more older, they will need anyone who are abke to work regardless of their age and skill.
Yeah, it is a funny conundrum, isn't it? No jobs in many areas, plenty in others - the irony is, where there are plenty of jobs, people don't want to do because they are so poorly paid.
9.4% unemployment is a lot. I would probably be very scared if I couldn't find a job for a long time, having outstanding loans.
It is the highest it has been since the early 90s I believe. Yet, no one seems "that worried" about it. It is very strange.
Tax is the source for the development or the source for many infrastructure and development if it is well managed but sad to say some dont used it properly. Lots of countries leaders used it for personal gain and the people suffer poverty so sad but true in my country.
The problem is, the governments will keep increasing how much they take from the people, making lives harder and harder - while simultaneously changing laws to increase the profits of the few.
It’s true—no lunch is ever truly "free" in the bigger picture. Hope the conversation goes well and leads to something valuable for both of you!
It was a great conversation over some pasta carbonara :)
Yesterday I saw a video where a man tried to convert lions to christianity.
I hope the lions ate him.
correct, and automation and AI will take over more human jobs for sure
People picking the most expensive restaurant just to test you, so true. Some people treat business lunches like a power play instead of, you know, actually focusing on business. I hope the meeting went well too
Excellent. Thank you for passing it on.
Situations change, for example I have looked for remote employment and have not found one yet.
I find that timing is truly the most important factor for these things... and by having lunch with him, hopefully your name might be at the top of his list when something does come up.
The job market across the world for highly-educated positions is pretty worrying right now.
All my students at school get free lunch. But, you get what you pay for. Most of the stuff they are served, I wouldn't eat even if it was free. Seed oils, glyphosate, preservatives... Yuck!!
Hopefully you can find some contract work, that is the most fun. Set your own hours, Control your own work flow.