AS employees, it is normal to hear from superiors the statement “No one is indispensable.” In simple words, it means that anyone can become unnecessary anytime and can lose his job. Employees are at the disposal of the employers.
Employers can simply rotate their employees to different tasks whether the employee likes it or not. The employers know what will be good for their businesses and when the time comes that there is someone better than you, expect that you will be reassigned or worse, retired.
I am no exception to this when I was still employed. In our department where the turn-over rate was high, I was the only one who served the longest time, twenty years. Then change came. I was made to realize that I was not anymore fit to my role.
I was offered early retirement or be transferred to sales. I was so attached to my workplace to the point that I thought that I am irreplaceable. I treated my workplace as my second home. But at that point in time, I was made to realize that there is no such thing as a permanent job.
I had a wrong misconception that loyalty to the company is a guarantee of security of tenure. Anyone in my position is sure to feel bad because of the feeling of being unwanted after serving for so long.
To make the long story short, I accepted the offer and I was able to make good my selling career for five years before calling it quits. Because of my selling experience, now I have my own business. When I was apprehensive before, later I was happy to become dispensable.
Here are some tips for the future dispensable employees.
1. Make your job a training ground. After getting the job you want, make sure to give your best and at the same time, learn from your experience and from your other colleagues. You will have an idea on how things work.
Do not have the mindset of making a routine of just reporting to work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. I have learned from my former job and my current business is the result of the knowledge I have from my former job. Be an expert in your current and future roles and use it when you decide to have your own business.
2. Save and invest. As early as your first salary, make it a point to save as much as possible. Financial experts tell us that we save at least twenty percent. If you can make it higher, the better. I managed to save fifty percent since I was single that time. I lived with my parents and I have less expenses.
My only expenses were transportation, groceries and a portion of my income for my mother. I do not buy lunch because I bring my “baon.” When my savings account grew, I transferred some to investments to grow it further. As I was young then, I had time as my friend. Time was on my side so I took advantage of it. That was also the reason why 25 years later, I was not afraid to be dispensable.
A lot of people are afraid because they have no savings to back them up when they quit. Retirement is not a factor of age but of net worth. The more money you have at an early age, the earlier you can retire.
3. Have a side hustle while employed. As the current cost of living is high, it is not enough that you have only one source of income. While employed, try to search and study other sources of income. Make sure that your side hustle does not interfere with your work load. Start small and grow it gradually.
When the time comes that the income from your side hustle is stable and is higher than that of your job, you may want to go full time. As an example, my son, who is a first-year college student, has a small online selling business. I was observing his activity and I was surprised to know that his current average monthly income beats that of an employee.
He earns his income at zero stress level. If he can make his business stable, then he does not need to be employed anymore. From him I learned this: Find the things you love to do and if possible, monetize it.
4. Change of mindset. There is nothing permanent in this world. Everything moves forward. Just think of your job as an education. We have the primary level, secondary level and tertiary level and after that, we hunt for a job.
At all levels we graduate. Maybe we can call our job as quaternary level of education so that parting away from it will not be a sad moment but a step to the next level, like being a business owner. A change in mindset is all we need.
Do not be afraid of being dispensable. Just like old age, it will come. We just need to prepare for it. As the saying goes, “It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.”
Edmund Lao is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal-financial planning, attend the 95th RFP program in May 2022. To inquire, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text at 0917-6248110.