Arjun Singh Rathore
Much has been touted about how important it is to find a job you love. May be that’s not as critical as we’ve been led to believe. My experience is that most people don’t love their work. Many like it, some tolerate it, but it is a minority who find work they love that also supports their lifestyle.
Among so many other things the Covid pandemic taught us the importance of a job. As the second wave of pandemic ravages the country, around seven million job losses were recorded, resulting into India’s unemployment rate rose to nearly 8% in May, the highest recorded in decades. The job losses are attributed to series of curbs, including lockdowns, being announced by respective State Governments to contain the spread of the second wave of Covid-19 infections. As a result, a number of people working in different cities and towns have left for villages due to the closure of economy activities.
Job loss is the most severe immediate impact of Covid-19 crises while lower economic growth and rise in inequality would be the long-term effects. The year gone by saw millions of Indians laid off, both in the formal and informal sectors, with many still struggling to find a job. The Covid-19 outbreak in India and the subsequent lockdowns altered the landscape of the country’s employment sector. With close to 10.9 million jobs being lost across sectors, 2020 was termed the worst-ever year for the job market in India and the story is not different during the first half of the current year.
Among the most affected sectors, tourism & hospitality, transport & travel, aviation, auto-manufacturing, were the worst hit due to the lockdown. Indians were forced to stay home and these sectors either sent their employees on ‘leave without pay’ or laid them off.
However, the healthcare (due to Covid-19 related growth) and education (e-learning) sectors saw a fractional growth and positive impact from the lockdown with close to 0.4 million new jobs being created in these segments.
In between the pandemic lucky are the people, who are into government jobs and also from some public & private sectors, who survived in retaining their jobs. They must be thankful to almighty God for bestowing his blessings. These organisations not only retained their employees either with no or a nominal wage cut but also helped them by granting paid quarantine leaves and also reimbursed the big fat medical bills.
And when we look towards those who lost their jobs and those who got their business outlets being closed down, it becomes more important for us to love our jobs, to respect our jobs, to be honest with our job, to recognise the importance of our jobs. It is the time we have to return back and do the justice with our job.
It is critical to distinguish between the job and the way we do it. This is important because every job has aspects that will be very unpleasant for us. We need to be able to get through them with a smile on our face ‘Service With a Smile’.
If we don’t like our specific job, or the work environment we are in, we can love the way we do it. Be able to pat yourself on the back at the end of every day. By doing so, we also set our self up for finding, within our organisation or somewhere else, a job we will enjoy more.
So, paraphrasing a verse Stephen Stills penned, “If you can’t be in the job you love… Love the job you’re in or the way you do it.”
It will make every job much more enjoyable and rewarding. Someone who is passionate about their job is not necessarily living their life any more or less fully than someone who is passionate about their family. So, other than your job, what is your passion in life? Do you love to learn, or teach, or write? Are you fervent about cooking, sports, cars, or clothes? Do you have a wonderful friend, lover, or a family that you adore? If you find answers to all these questions, Congratulations! You’ve discovered some of life’s great turn-ons for you.
Another exciting way of loving your job is by way of expanding the joy in your life by regularly blocking time to engage in those activities you love, with the people you love. Try a hand on cooking, laundering, gardening or even a countryside drive with family or friends. It’s not your job but it will certainly make you joyful and rejuvenate your energy and enthusiasm to perform more efficiently at your job. This is not hard to do. You just have to decide to do it.
Some of the best pieces of career advices to get motivated and inspired to do our best and be our best at our workplace and beyond are, Venture outside of our comfort zone, View every person we meet as a door that may lead us to a new opportunity, Show up early, Think of as a lifelong learner, Every year deeply consider career path, Search for the value in feedback or criticism, Cultivate perseverance, Do what you say you’ll do, Ask the important questions, Don’t be afraid to speak up, Dress for the job we want, Find the job we enjoy, Say yes to the things that scare us, Set realistic goals, Let go for perfection, Remember that a job doesn’t give meaning of life, Every job will have unexpected inconveniences, There is always an opportunity in chaos, Find a mentor, and be a mentor, Work harder than those around, If we need help, ask for it, Use our strengths, Be willing to sacrifice some things to build the career we want, Live our life not someone else’s, Follow own efforts, Don’t settle, Be confident yet humble, Embrace failure, Use own intuition and last but not the least Be a team player.
Please understand that I’m not encouraging you to stay in a job that makes us miserable and find all our joys elsewhere. If we dislike the job we are in, start to lobby or look for a better one today and create a plan to get it. But remember, while we are searching for that perfect job, enjoy the way we are doing our present one, and keep celebrating and expanding all the other joys of life that surround us.
(The author is Executive Manager & Branch Head at JK Bank Marble Market, Jammu)
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