They're On The Road to Nowhere.

Having closed down my winery last November, I find myself in the rare position of being between jobs. I say 'rare' because I've not been without gainful employment since I was 15 years old. Okay, so I did take a month off between jobs back in 1998...but it was a month off with pay, covered by my new employer. And during that month off I contracted a nasty sinus infection. It now being mid-February, I have now gone an unprecedented 73 consecutive days without working. But the trade-off has been great in terms of my family life, and the house has never been so clean.

But it's high time I reenter the workaday world, and I'm now actively searching for just the right position. To be sure, many offers have come my way, but almost all of them require way too much travel. Those that don't require my living out of a suitcase offer salaries so minuscule that accepting the position would lead to my family and I to live in a trailer park. While the current economic situation might dictate my jumping at any job offer, I'm going to hold out for something better.

There's one thing this job search has reinforced: my belief that the U.S. wine industry is incredibly short-sighted. When word got out that I had pulled the plug on the winery, I was inundated with calls, emails and letters from industry folks all over the world. Most of these expressed surprise, sadness or congratulations...sometimes all three. Some also included possibilities of future employment. Of these, about a dozen were from businesses concerns offering positions that I felt were worth pursuing.
In subsequent conversations with these employers I've learned that all of them have decided to hold off filling these positions. They took one look at their 2008 4th quarter results, and felt it prudent to not hire anyone. And these are senior management positions like general manager, sales manager, etc. In other words, sales were bad for these folks, but they're not going to hire the one key manager who can/should improve their sales! I find myself wanting to say, "You think sales suck now? Just wait. You've made a decision that's sure to put your company on course that will lead to even lower sales". It's the Titanic without the band.

Such a mindset is kinda like saying you own a Porsche, but are only going to spend money on putting gas in the tank. No tune-ups, no oil changes, no rotating tires...nothing but gas. In the long run, this kind of thinking ends up costing more money in repairs (or replacement) than the periodic maintenance would have. Enormously short-sighted. But, hey, that's the industry I've been in most of my adult life.

To be sure, there are those out there that see this economic crisis as a great opportunity...an opportunity to pick up market share, equipment, land, and - yes - talent. These are the types of companies I'm aiming for. My only hope that I can stay out of the trailer park long enough to land one.