Has your job been "deskilled?"

[KansDem]

de·skill (d-skl)
tr.v. de·skilled, de·skill·ing, de·skills
1. To eliminate the need for skilled labor in (an industry), especially by the introduction of high technology.
2. To downgrade (a job or occupation) from a skilled to a semiskilled or unskilled position.

The unemployment figure released today places unemployment at 7.2%. With layoffs and hiring freezes becoming commonplace, have you in your job taken on a variety of other tasks in your workplace that have very little, if anything, to do with your original position, say, like taking over responsibilities of other departments?

Do you find deskilling challenging or has it led to job dissatisfaction for you? Are you new responsibilities interesting or do you find them to be pure drudgery?

[slackmaster]

1. No, but my position has been made non-redundant

No single person can serve as a backup for everything I do.

[KansDem]

2. So if you're laid off, there is no one person who can take your place?

But then, couldn't your responsibilities be "outsourced" to other co-workers?

Perhaps I don't understand what you mean by "non-redundant."

[slackmaster]

3. I'm sure they could figure something out

Perhaps I don't understand what you mean by "non-redundant."

I mean if I get hit by a bus, there is no individual who could step in and take over my job alone. I am a systems administrator. Normally a company the size of mine would have two or three people doing what I do. I'm on call pretty much all the time.

Nobody is safe.

[grannylib]

4. Pretty much. They eliminated my position as safety coordinator

at my old job, and parceled out responsibilities among those who are left (after another 26 got laid off day before yesterday) so now everyone left is going to be even MORE overworked and stressed...
They've really dumbed it down at the company level; they've got some really good people at the Corporate level but within the companies, it's going to be "what's the bare minimum we can do to keep off OSHA's radar" and that will be it.

[Ganja Ninja]

5. No my job is still skilled, only my pay has been deskilled. n/t

[SmileyRose]

6. I am an accountant - I was moved and no longer do any accounting.

I had to take a 30% pay cut to keep the job (everyone in the office did and the owners are no longer getting paid at all)

I'm basically a receptionist now in a department with no clear leadership so this 19 yr old who's been there 4 months has gotten the idea she's my boss. (the actual boss asked her to show me where everything is filed and makes no effort to direct his own department)

In accounting there were 3 of us - The controller, me (accountant) and one part time accounting clerk. The chemistry was great, the job titles and chain of command were clear and we functioned like a well oiled machine. Now I am in the sales office, they jockey for power constantly, the passive aggressive bullshit makes my hair hurt, they sabotage each other's work on a regular basis. If I can find another job I plan to quit - which is sad because the owners of this business are salt of the earth types and an honest pleasure to work for, but I'm not a receptionist. I'm a phenomenal accountant and more than earn my salary and reputation. The reason they moved me rather than let me go is because I've saved and made them millions in the last 4 years. But I just am unwilling to work in the toxic environment I am currently in.

[KansDem]

10. "...but I'm not a receptionist"

I think I know what you mean. I'm a librarian at a large public library. About a year ago, one of the clerical staff retired, so her duties were farmed out. I got the "petty cash" responsibility. I had to count up the monies, fill out forms, and deposit the bank bag. Well, I thought I was doing all right, but I kept getting notices from the bank (the bag bypassed the finance department--another "cost cutting" measure--and was deposited directly into the bank) that I wasn't "doing it right." I thought, "Hell, I didn't ask for this job!" I told my supervisor that I wasn't working for the bank and felt I shouldn't be "reprimanded" by them. I told her that if they had a beef, they should take it up with the library administration and, consequently, my supervisor and she can talk to me about it.

The situation improved dramatically when my supervisor decided to put all the petty cash concerns (involving several departments) under one person. And fortunately that person wasn't me!

But this is only one of numerous tasks we've been handed when staff of other departments either retire or move on. My job now doesn't resemble the "career" I studied for and worked toward. I feel I'm in no way using my full potential...

[SmileyRose]

11. I'm not working at potential is right.

Any twit can be a receptionist. Answering the phone and filing in numerical order is something most 16 yr olds can do just fine. This feels demeaning and the toxic nature of the sales department just makes it worse.

But I still have a job.............

[KansDem]

12. "But I still have a job............."

I'm afraid this will become the new career objective as Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs" flies out the window...:(

[tech3149]

7. Well more than a decade ago

My profession is /was electronics service. I saw the change come in the mid 80's. Manufacturers educated field personnel to know the equipment almost as well as the engineers. A qualified technician could fix problems with little to no support.

As equipment became more complex and companies more protective of their developments, education dropped to the point that you were only taught how to hook it up and make it work. Documentation fell to nothing more than an installation manual. Any failure that wasn't painfully obvious required contacting overworked and sometimes not much more skilled tech support staff. Getting anything more than the most basic information to diagnose a problem was like pulling teeth or required you to reverse engineer it on your own.

That's why I gave it up in 2002. I truly loved and enjoyed my work, when I became nothing more than a pair of hands to do the grunt work, I couldn't continue.

[lumberjack_jeff]

8. Yes. They used to call 'em "draftsmen". Now they're "Cad technicians"

Kind of like writers are "wordperfect technicians".

[Catshrink]

9. I'm a teacher

and there are several classes now taught at our school using computer based curricula. We also use a distance learning program for credit recovery that has most of our classes online.

Not all subjects can be taught that way but "some" people are advocating that. So why have highly qualified teachers? I wonder where this is all heading...