a and it has already started laying off workers. It plans to shed 25,000 to 30,000 jobs before it's done. These shocking job cuts include white collar workers as well.

Overall, in the years from 2000 to 2003, the United States lost almost 3 million manufacturing jobs according to the Economic Policy Institute. There is no sign that this trend is going to change.

If you're like most people, then you want job security. That steady paycheck and ability to count on income in the future helps you sleep at night knowing that the bills are going to be paid. But long term reliable employment is getting harder to come by. Job security, once taken for granted as a part of American life, is declining, and in recent years job markets have continued to shift under people's feet.

Your seniority at a job won't protect you from job cuts.

Seniority can actually hurt you because older workers tend to be paid more and companies have many creative ways of removing older workers from their ranks. The "golden handshake" is the nicest way of losing a job, but sometimes a company will just close an office or plant that has an older workforce and that's the end of it.

You may not enjoy thinking about these uncertainties, but deep down you know that you need a plan for maintaining your income in the future instead just relying on companies to employ you. Expecting to find a well-paying job that will be there for you until retirement is just not a realistic idea anymore.

Manufacturing jobs that used to be the pillar of well-paid secure employment are disappearing. The headlines always tell the same story. For example, Ford Motor Company, whose founder Henry Ford made sure his workers earned enough to actually buy one of his cars, has started massive job cuts.

In the coming years, Ford will shut down 14 factories in North America and it has already started laying off workers. It plans to shed 25,000 to 30,000 jobs before it's done. These shocking job cuts include white collar workers as well.

Overall, in the years from 2000 to 2003, the United States lost almost 3 million manufacturing jobs according to the Economic Policy Institute. There is no sign that this trend is going to change.

<ntinued to shift under people's feet.

Your seniority at a job won't protect you from job cuts.

Seniority can actually hurt you because older workers tend to be paid more and companies have many creative ways of removing older workers from their ranks. The "golden handshake" is the nicest way of losing a job, but sometimes a company will just close an office or plant that has an older workforce and that's the end of it.

You may not enjoy thinking about these uncertainties, but deep down you know that you need a plan for maintaining your income in the future instead just relying on companies to employ you. Expecting to find a well-paying job that will be there for you until retirement is just not a realistic idea anymore.

Manufacturing jobs that used to be the pillar of well-paid secure employment are disappearing. The headlines always tell the same story. For example, Ford Motor Company, whose founder Henry Ford made sure his workers earned enough to actually buy one of his cars, has started massive job cuts.

In the coming years, Ford will shut down 14 factories in North America and it has already started laying off workers. It plans to shed 25,000 to 30,000 jobs before it's done. These shocking job cuts include white collar workers as well.

Overall, in the years from 2000 to 2003, the United States lost almost 3 million manufacturing jobs according to the Economic Policy Institute. There is no sign that this trend is going to change.

plant that has an older workforce and that's the end of it.

You may not enjoy thinking about these uncertainties, but deep down you know that you need a plan for maintaining your income in the future instead just relying on companies to employ you. Expecting to find a well-paying job that will be there for you until retirement is just not a realistic idea anymore.

Manufacturing jobs that used to be the pillar of well-paid secure employment are disappearing. The headlines always tell the same story. For example, Ford Motor Company, whose founder Henry Ford made sure his workers earned enough to actually buy one of his cars, has started massive job cuts.

In the coming years, Ford will shut down 14 factories in North America and it has already started laying off workers. It plans to shed 25,000 to 30,000 jobs before it's done. These shocking job cuts include white collar workers as well.

Overall, in the years from 2000 to 2003, the United States lost almost 3 million manufacturing jobs according to the Economic Policy Institute. There is no sign that this trend is going to change.

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Manufacturing jobs that used to be the pillar of well-paid secure employment are disappearing. The headlines always tell the same story. For example, Ford Motor Company, whose founder Henry Ford made sure his workers earned enough to actually buy one of his cars, has started massive job cuts.

In the coming years, Ford will shut down 14 factories in North America and it has already started laying off workers. It plans to shed 25,000 to 30,000 jobs before it's done. These shocking job cuts include white collar workers as well.

Overall, in the years from 2000 to 2003, the United States lost almost 3 million manufacturing jobs according to the Economic Policy Institute. There is no sign that this trend is going to change.

a and it has already started laying off workers. It plans to shed 25,000 to 30,000 jobs before it's done. These shocking job cuts include white collar workers as well.

Overall, in the years from 2000 to 2003, the United States lost almost 3 million manufacturing jobs according to the Economic Policy Institute. There is no sign that this trend is going to change.

You can also be leery of getting one of those "good union jobs."

Tied in with the crumbling of manufacturing is the decline of union membership. Compared to 1945 when nearly one third of Americans were union members, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that only 12.5% of wage and salary workers were in unions in 2005. Unions that used to command high wages and protect jobs are fast becoming a thing of the past.

Then there is "offshore outsourcing" in which your job can be transferred to someone in India or Mexico who will make 15% of what you earn. Outsourcing doesn't just happen to factory workers whose plant is moved overseas. It happens to software developers and it happens to administrative support jobs and to medical service jobs.

Why does this happen? The greatest factor motivating employers to scale back on secure employment is cost. Companies want to make money, and well-paid full time employees in America aren't cheap. That is why companies look for ways to switch to lower cost employees in other countries or use non-union, lower paid, or part time workers here. And, because major employers tend to be very large multi-national companies, it is easy for them to play musical chairs with jobs among different countries.

This logically leaves you asking: "What can I do to be financially secure?"

As the above statistics show, looking to the job market is not going to get you what it used to in the past. You'll need to take charge of yo