As three million people wait for a job offer in the United States, it can be forgiven for those with jobs for thinking about managing their career during such tough economy and employment times. Not many people holding jobs right now are concerned with finding their next job. Instead, they are more worried about whether they will be able to hold onto their current job.

Even though the job market is poor right now, companies need to stay competitive by looking to the future and thinking about the traits they should be building right now. On the other side of things, if individuals want to remain employed or gain employment in the future, they must also think about what skills they need to be improving. As a person’s working life continues to expand, it is important to figure out how to remain productive and attractive as an employee in the future.

A successful organization is able to create adaptability and agility within their workforce. This means that the employees of the company are able to deploy employees in response to the changing demands of clients, take advantage of new opportunities for the business, and flex the needs of the business. Employment research shows that employees are more involved in their work if they are tagged to perform stimulating job duties, if their company is able to provide them with new job opportunities, and if their company shows a true interest in the employee’s position.

Employability is one of the biggest challenges in today’s job market, which is the chance to develop skills and experience of an employee. If a person is employable, it means that he or she can fit into a variety of positions within the company, not just a single position. Employability not only helps the company operate effectively but it also helps the employee feel secure in his or her job, opens up job opportunities down the road, and allows the employee to perform their job duties up to par.

In a tough job market, employers are looking for employees who have the experience and the skills necessary to work in pre-determined jobs. A company needs to know that the employees on their payroll have what it takes to move up the corporate ladder should another employee quit, be fired, or decide to retire. In this tough economic world, companies only want to invest in training and development for employees when it will benefit the company.

If there are no employees on a company’s payroll that have the skills or experience to move up the corporate ladder and an employee is forced to work in a position he or she has no training for, this can cause rigidity and inflexibility within the office.