Win, Don’t Spin

To talk about the straits of the U.S. economy—and the world’s for that matter, but this really hits home, and far, far too many homes at that—as being critical is to truly understate the case. Anything said only understates the case. Who doesn’t know someone who has lost her or his job? Who really feels comfortable that they will be in their same position a year from now? For a while, it seemed as though automotive was where jobs were being spun out like a high-velocity centrifuge. But invariably, more and more industries and companies climbed into the Tilt-a-Whirl. Recently, the seemingly inconceivable happened.

First, Microsoft announced that it would be cutting 5,000 jobs, many of whom work(ed) at the company’s headquarters in Redmond. Microsoft has extremely rigorous hiring practices. People who get jobs there probably didn’t because they know somebody’s father—even if that dad is Bill Gates’s. Presumably, there are more than a few university students who believe that if they get smart, work hard, and are exceedingly bright, they can get a job at Microsoft. And now that belief is being sorely tested. And there it is: the layoff announcement.

Second, Home Depot. It is cutting about 7,000 jobs and closing stores. While it might have seemed that given the cratering of the housing market, those who have homes would spend money on maintaining and fixing them up rather than looking for a new place to live (assuming that they still have a job and don’t have to move), it seems that that’s not the case. In my experience, the people at the local Home Depot are as well versed in the home arts as those I know from Microsoft are in the digital sciences. But there it is: the layoff announcement.

Third, Caterpillar. For a long while, Cat seemed to be running counter to other manufacturing firms. It was selling its equipment all over the world. Those big yellow pieces of Cat equipment were moving earth on every continent (or perhaps snow in Antarctica). But because of the world’s economic molasses-like morass, even the mighty Cat is affected, and is shedding some 20,000. And there it is: the layoff announcement.

The point here is not to make you depressed, nervous, other otherwise out-of-sorts.

But I do think that there is something that each of us needs to keep in mind. People are still buying things. Less than before, but still buying. To be sure, people are buying things that are less expensive. But they are also buying things with plenty of digits on the left side of the decimal point on price tags. To be successful is to provide what people are looking for, when they are looking for it. And in an age where product life cycles are flipping faster than the members of Cirque de Soleil, those companies that can rapidly and efficiently develop and produce products are going to be the ones with far fewer layoffs. It’s no sure thing. But in this roulette wheel of an economy, it is how I’d bet.