Free Trade: Has your job already gone, or could it potentially go, offshore? Like it or not, unless the borders shut down immediately (which is unlikely to happen) you would be wise to face the facts…you are now are in a global job market competing with over three billion people in China, India, and Russia. Many are very well educated and can do any job in the world for a lot less. That’s some tough competition! Throughout each century, great changes have occurred. This century’s technology and free trade is last century’s “Industrial Revolution.” Sort of like the birth of urban cities as the populations moved from rural areas to find work in the cities. It is changing the way we all live. The first, most important step to protecting your future is assessing and acknowledging the new reality in our rapidly changing world. Then comes the crucial part - how you and the nation choose to deal with this changing world.

As with most things in life, no end of whining, complaining, and wishing it wasn’t so will change the situation. Compare this era with that of the blacksmith making horseshoes at the beginning of the century. He was likely scared for his family’s well-being and perhaps expended precious energy protesting the introduction of the “you can have any color you want so long as it is black” Model-T Ford motor vehicle. Times change, and it is those who recognize change at the front of the turn and adapt with the times that are the ones most likely to succeed. If you are in the IT sector for example, assess what jobs are least likely to be shipped offshore (security or hands-on maintenance perhaps) and move your career in that direction if you want to remain in that sector. The unearned wage advantage of being born in America or Australia may be irrelevant in the future. It is the workers’ responsibility to adapt their skills to the demands of the marketplace.

The greatest! North Melbourne Aussie Rules Football Team or more fondly known as
the "Roo's" or "Kangaroo's."