I work in tech and have since my teens. I've done contracting for web dev, I worked for a systems integrator, and I've been a sysadmin in my current position for six years. In the past six years, I've dodged several (at least three) layoffs, losing coworkers and getting more overworked each time. There are rumors of another round of layoffs happening in the next couple of months, and I can't help but feel like my luck will have finally run out.
It's something that I constantly think about at this point.. it's always in the back of my mind. To add to the stress, I'm the only earner in my relationship. My partner is more than willing (and would try) to get a job if something happens, but the current thing we've got going works very well. They take care of the house, do a large part of the household chores, and take care of our pet family. I am able to focus on work, and in the end we both have free time and are able to spend that time together.
Anyway, that's not to say that it isn't stressful to have everything financially on me, especially given the current tech job market. I'm worried that I'll lose my job, not be able to find a new one by the time unemployment expires, and then starve or lose our home.
When I was younger, I was very interested in being a national forest employee. Of course, they also haven't been paid and have been getting canned just the same, but I can't help but feel that I would've been more fulfilled doing that work. I'm still relatively young and probably would be able to switch to a different industry if it came to it, but I'm also not in the same physical health as I was before working in tech. I broke my leg three years ago and lost most of my leg strength, so I think working for state parks would be out.
Being honest, I don't know what to do. I'm so tired of possibly getting laid off. It's ruined most of my passion for tech. But I have no other marketable skills. I feel trapped
So many people are dunning-kruger about their fluency. They should not be teaching others to pluralize 'e-mail' and joinwords randomly and comma-splice everything. Instruction from the competent, please.
With 1.5 billion students and 250k willing teachers, there are currently about 6,000 English students per teacher.
With students, parents, and governments clamoring for such a relatively small pool of willing teachers, plus the vastly increased opportunities for non-English speakers to develop any level of English at all, no employer can be particularly discriminating with their hires.
The demand for English teachers is incomparable to any other professional field I'm aware of. Even doctors, there are about 15 million in the world, so even if ever person on the planet wants a doctor, that's only 500 people per doctor, less than 8% the number of English students per available teacher, and we aren't even factoring in the countless other healthcare workers.
It's sort of like you grew up doodling in the margins of your notebook, and when you start looking for a job, nearly every country in the world is offering you much more than the average national salary, airfare, housing, working and resident visas to just please, please, live in their country and teach them how to doodle in the margins.
The scale and scope of the English-teaching field is mind-boggling.