Ellen Griffin Discusses how Education Can Save you from a Layoff

Getting Educated Can Save You From a Layoff
Melissa M. Ezarik, ClassesUSA.com, Yahoo! HotJobs

It's a most undesirable group: the unemployed. Job losses in 2008 totaled 2.6 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In December 2008 alone, the unemployment rate rose from 6.8 to 7.2 percent. Don't want to become a statistic? Get educated.

If you enrolled in college (or considering pursuing a degree or certificate), you'd be in good company. The University Continuing Education Association cites that nearly half of full- and part-time undergraduates ages 25 to 34 and about 63 percent of those 35+ continue to work full time. About 40 percent of today's undergrads are at least 25.

Why are they there? Perhaps they realize "lifelong learning is necessary for a competitive advantage," says Bili Mattes, associate provost for strategic markets at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (PA). "If you don't stay current, you're fairly dead in the water." The trend of corporate universities indicates employers view ongoing training as a must, she adds.

Versatility Is an Asset

In Ellen Ryder Griffin's view as dean of Southern New Hampshire University's School of Professional and Continuing Education, most students don't seem to be there to explore new fields. "I believe job retention and promotion are still the most significant reasons for the choice of major and degree track."

Come layoff time, that extra knowledge should help. "When making tough reduction-in-force decisions, employers retain those people who can wear more than one hat," explains Roberta Chinsky Matuson, president of Human Resource Solutions. Matuson, who has helped clients with layoff strategies, says employers look at who could "do not only their own jobs, but the tasks that become available when they release other people."

So to increase your layoff survival odds, Matuson advises beefing up skills in areas besides your specialty. As Mattes says, you don't want to just be "known as the guy or gal who does balance sheets."

A conversation with the boss will show you want to grow and help in determining what would boost your value.
When layoffs are imminent, Matuson says, you can't expect your boss to remember you've got special certification. An informal reminder might go like this: "As you may recall, I have a graduate degree already. Would becoming a certified financial planner be an asset?"

Make Your Own Plan

Just don't fail to consider where you want to be in the future, she says. Blindly following a boss's plan for you could spell misery.
Yet this may not be the time to sample something new using tuition reimbursement benefits. "It would not be wise to take on a degree or a certificate program that's not related to your job and for growth within your company," Mattes says. Employers who may not have scrutinized what programs employees are taking may now be vigilant about that.

As for this benefit's fate in tough economic times, Matuson says employers may be capping the programs (by, say, nixing pricey executive MBAs) or changing the rules of eligibility -- so "jump in now."

Online or in person, learning options include everything from two-hour seminars, daylong workshops, and semester-long courses to certificate or degree programs. Thomas Allen, dean of Student and Career Services at DeVry University in Alpharetta, Georgia, reminds that the investment in education is valuable not just in saving your job but for its own sake. "Learning is a lifelong process and you never have enough."