Last  week the Associated Press reported gave us some unfortunate news that could eventually create problems for our career mobility.  According to them, "Worker productivity, the key factor in rising living standards, slowed sharply in the final three months of the year while wage pressures increased." This isn't much of a surprise to me.  Who doesn't want more for doing less?  Alone, this drop in productivity isn't so bad.  However, couple it with the news that the service sector shrank for the first time in five years, and you've got yourself some real news.  People have already been converted or seen the light.  Many economists are now trying to figure out the size of the impending recession.  They aren't debating whether or not it's coming. They've accepted that.

So what does this have to do with your career (before the recession)?  Read my post about recession proofing your career.  It's now time act.  If you are waiting for a sign....here it is! 

I'm often confused by recessions and other financial castrophies since I'm always struggling whether they are a consequence of real events that certainly lead to the failure or whether we just panic so much we create it.  Either way, you better be prepared.  With the talk of recession, people will begin responding. Eventually, all bad news comes from the looming financial disaster.  It will just keep building and building.  It's like finding the 'resonant frequency' of a bridge.  You shake it until you hit the frequency.  Then, the bridge takes over and violently shakes itself apart.  The point is....don't shake it, you might find it!