A Word about Recessions
Now that I am in my Nineties, my lengthy lifespan has drifted through both good times and bad. Like many others my age, I have seen recessions come and go. It started in my case with the stock market crash in the 20’s, which precipitated the “Great Depression”. Its effect on my family was thankfully somewhat muted, in contrast to those living in the cities, because we lived in the countryside surrounded by farms, consequently we never went hungry. When the war got underway in 1939, everyone of working age was either fully employed, or in the armed forces. It is ironic to deduce that war seems to be the only effective instrument we have to ensure that everyone is kept fully employed in the workforce.
In a previous article, I wrote briefly of my time in Australia after World War 2 in the 1950’s and 60’s. It was a time dominated by the prolific influx of immigrants mainly from the European countries. With it came the ethnic trials, tribulations, and conflicts that had to be borne on a daily basis, especially in places where people gathered to work, which I described in that issue.
In comparison to today’s workplace, there was no such thing as unemployment during the 20 years I lived in Australia. The newspapers were always full of job opportunities, and when I have spoken in recent years about the fact that government employment exchanges were for the most part non existent and no one was drawing unemployment benefits, people find it hard to believe. There was always a vibrant turnaround of labor, and apart from the professional appointments there were no CV’s required. When people below managerial level applied for a job the interviews could be regarded as pretty free and easy. If you were accepted, these well worn words were always reiterated “You’re on a months trial, if you can do the job you are in, if you can’t you are out”, and as a prospective employee the conditions were reciprocal if you didn’t like the work during the first week or so you just left sometimes on a days notice without any repercussions. Such was the working environment.
In my own case, arriving in the country as a veteran, my first position was with Veterans Affairs. It helped me to get adjusted to my new life, but as with some government positions, it turned out to be a boring day to day existence which quite soon prompted me to look elsewhere. I learned that there was a professional agency in the city center and took my credentials there. Very few, if any telephones existed in houses during those early days, and communication was by telegram which I received the very next day “Will Bonner stop position available stop for your application stop please contact stop” I got the position the next day. I was never without work, and enjoyed the opportunity to change my venue to gain experience in the various fields of electronic engineering. This pattern continued throughout my 20 years in Australia.
After settling in Melbourne my wife and I lived in an old colonial house in its own grounds about 4 or 5 kilometers from the city center. It had been converted into four apartments all with 15-foot ceilings and amongst other historical items a gigantic marble fireplace in our sitting room with an original servant’s bell pull alongside.
A young man who occupied one of the other apartments knocked on my door one day asking for help. What transpired was a prime example of the easy going hiring practices in Australia during those days. He had been accepted by Phillip Morris the tobacco company as sales rep for northern Victoria which was an expansive territory to cover. “How can I help you” I asked? “They have given me a brand new car,” he replied. “You will need it for getting around the towns up in the bush, have you brought it home?” “No, it’s still in the car park outside their offices” “Was there a reason why you had to leave it there?” “Yes, I really wanted the job so I didn’t tell them that I don’t have a license and can’t drive. I’ve come home by train. Could you drive it back for me?” It was Saturday. The car was loaded with cartons of cigarettes, which in those days were given to the shopkeepers as freebies to obtain orders, and it was ready for him to start his sales round two hundred kilometers north the following week. It is inconceivable that this could possibly have happened in present day hiring circumstances. He overcame his immediate problem and meeting him at a later time I am pleased to say that he had become a very successful sales rep, staying with the company for some years.
After a very long, colorful, and stable employment experience in Australia, circumstances dictated that I leave and take my family back to the UK. On my arrival, the contrast in the workplace environment was devastating. Strikes were prevalent, and the countrywide miners strike just about brought everything to a standstill. After a period of disappointments I eventually managed to get an interview with the Chrysler Motor company. What transpired was in vivid contrast to my experience in Australia.
The interview went well and I was accepted based on my previous years in the electronics industry. I was elated, but as I was about to leave I was told that I would have to see a union official. I sat in a tiny booth adjacent to the interview room to await his arrival thinking that it would probably be a requirement for me to join. Over two hours elapsed before the gentleman arrived, and I use the word gentleman very loosely, because his unkempt and dirty clothing gave me the impression that he had probably just finished a period digging muddy ditches. He did not say a word or look up as his grubby fingers flipped through the contents of a dirty looking folder. When he did finally look up, his remarks were to say the least mind shattering before he promptly left the booth. He must have seen the word Australia in his notes.
“We don’t have enough jobs for our own without giving them to bloody foreigners”.
I did not get the opportunity to tell him that I was born just a few miles away from where we were standing, but I don’t think it would have made much difference. The booth fell silent as I went into shock. It quickly turned into anger, which I proceeded to vent out on the interviewer, who had previously accepted me, before leaving. It had been a demonstration of the power of the trade unions at that time. When my wife asked me how the interview went I was embarrassed and found it practically impossible to explain what had really transpired. It was sufficient to say that I had not been successful. Looking back to the affair and on the lighter side, I can honestly say that it was the only time in my whole career that I experienced being hired and fired at the same interview.
Eventually I did manage to get a position with an electronics research laboratory, and even though there was still a lot of turmoil involving the Unions it turned out to be very interesting and fulfilling for the next three years. Then low and behold the Stock market crashed and the country went into deep recession. The research company was registered on the Stock Exchange consequently it failed and we all lost our jobs.
Because of the severity of the recession I did not get employment for the next 2 years. During that time I was subjected to the indignity of having to go to the local Dole “unemployment exchange” every week to stand in line and receive my pittance of cash. I witnessed first hand the flagrant and ongoing abuse of the system. Usually the same people drawing cash and then going back to employment that they had not declared. The government of the day never seemed able to address the problem, and I am sorry to say that it appears to be still happening in one form or another to this very day.
This latest recession had very similar connotations to the ones I experienced back then and my feelings go out to those who are suffering a similar fate. Looking around at all the others similarly affected, prospects at the time seem pretty hopeless. They say that “when one door closes another opens” but it needs to be said that in times of recession the door requires an almighty shove to open up any opportunities that may be lurking on the other side. When I was experiencing the worst of the downturn during my time in the UK, I would reflect on the free and easy working environment that I had experienced for so long in Australia and prayed that I could be spirited back into those times. It was obviously wishful thinking.
As a footnote, yes, recessions come and go, but let’s not forget that they always leave scars on those most affected. As a classic example, whilst I was electronics engineer with the Australian government, I knew an older gentleman whose job it was to clean public telephone handsets. He seemed an intelligent man, but his wage was very poor. Each morning as I passed his department, I could smell the aroma of freshly made toast. He and his colleagues of similar age would be making breakfast before starting work. It was a home from home environment. I asked him why he didn’t pursue other employment which would have given him at least twice his present salary. He answered without hesitation an emphatic no. His reason! This particular job with the government was safe should another depression occur. The previous one had happened twenty years prior. A safety net for his family did not exist at the time. What little money they had soon ran out and he would walk or cycle to beyond the city limits and into bush country to catch rabbits and other unsuspecting wildlife that would be suitable as a meal for his family. That depression had left him with a mental scar for life.
Fortunately, I do not have any mental scars from past recessions, just bad memories. I continued to enjoy my lifetime involvement in Electronic Engineering and after my retirement I have had the privilege of passing on my experience to help others, by volunteering my expertise. Hopefully this will continue well into the future, until I am one day called to that big computer in the sky.
I wish you all good health