Part II: More office politics now than 20 yrs ago?

Dear Office-Politics,

Do you feel there is more office politics now then there was 20 yrs ago?

I think there is more office politics now, because it is now tougher to find a job than 20 yrs ago. This is because everything is computerized, and there are not many manual labour jobs like before. So everyone has to go back to school to upgrade computer skills & fight for whatever jobs are left in the workplace now. Also because of free trade, alot of jobs have been cut & moved to Mexico where labour is cheap & also now people have to save money for their retirement savings plan, where as 20 yrs ago people could depend on the gov’t to provide a good old age pension. Some of these difficult situations are causing people to backstab & manipulate other people in order to get good jobs & promotions! What do you think?

Longing for good old days

OFFICE-POLITICS REPLY BY PETER GARBER

Dear Longing for good old days,

I would agree that there seems to be more office politics than in the past.

My belief is that there is also more pressure to succeed than ever before in the workplace. As pressure builds, organizations tend to get more political trying to please the top brass or at least try to demonstrate that they are doing something to keep profits at acceptable levels.

However, I don’t agree that the cause for this increase in office politics is computerization. It is true that many manual jobs are being computerized or automated today. What this means is that job applicants and employees need to keep up their technical skills to stay competitive. For those who do, there should be ample career opportunities in the future. This is particularly true with the aging of the demographics of today’s skilled workforce. As the baby boomer generation begins to retire there simply just are not as many people in younger generations to take their place in the workplace. This situation will create a shortage of skilled workers in the future. The future is bright if you can qualify yourself for the jobs that will be available in the future. Good luck.

Thanks for writing to Office-Politics.

Regards,

Peter Garber, Author

Peter R. Garber has worked as an HR professional for over 25 years and is the author of many business books including: Winning the Rat Race at Work and 100 Ways to Get on the Wrong Side of your Boss.