BetterLearningBetterEarning™ | Get Better Work & Income - Teach Yourself Higher Paying Skills

When so much of our commerce consists of the exchange of information, hierarchies for based on individual knowledge and abilities to learn. Why does an executive make $500,000 a year while a custodian at the same company brings in $25,000. (See where your salary stacks up on payscale.com)

Smart Work

I’m not going to address the actual fairness of this massive income difference. The markets generally pay us what they think our contributions are worth. Mental exertion – the products of thought and learning – receive much larger rewards in our economic structure.

Do you know people who have worked hard all their lives but struggled to pay their bills? Who never seemed to get ahead financially? Now, answer this: What type of work were they doing all their lives? Chances are those people worked in manual labor or service industries.

Sadly, those who sweat the most often earn the least.  If you want to better your employment and income you must combine hard work with smart work.

Retooling Time

Over the last several decades, machines have replaced skilled labor or cost-cutting companies have sent work to other countries for people willing to work for much lower wages. If we’re to retool ourselves, we must pursue skills not easily automated or off-shored.

The number of “information age” jobs surpassed the number of industrial jobs in the U.S.  many years ago. With improved computing and cheaper labor available elsewhere, even information age workers lose positions by the thousands every day.  (See this article on WSJ Online tracking major layoffs in early 2009)

What will provide the next economic era’s backbone? Will development of energy sources drive investment and expansion? Or, will environmental initiatives generate the best opportunities? Will financial and banking sectors recover enough to reemploy those professionals who’ve lost their jobs? Or, will those people need to reinvent their career paths?

Whatever the answers to these questions, your ability to learn and adapt quickly will best ensure your employment and income in the future. Determine what up-and-coming employment/income opportunities you should pursue. Discover what skills these positions require. Devise a plan to learn and master those skills. Finally, stick to that learning plan to gain a competitive edge on other job seekers.

© 2009 BetterLearningBetterEarning.com™