Violence and the Economy are at a Crossroads

More than 1,000,000 jobs have been cut in the US since the start of this year. That’s 44% more jobs cut than during all of 2024.

It’s only the 4th time in 32 years that we’ve lost that many jobs in a single year. Two of those times occurred during the great recession, and a 3rd during covid. 

So we’re not in ordinary times.

And it would be foolish to believe that the worst is behind us. There were more job cuts in the month of October, than for any October since 2003. 

Businesses of all sizes, but especially small businesses, have reached the end of their ability to eat rising costs without risking their businesses.

So expect prices to rise, while layoffs to continue.

And with the longest government shutdown on record on going, SNAP benefits going unpaid, and healthcare premiums and deductibles skyrocketing, the sense that things are spiraling out of control is very real. 

And when people feel they’ve lost control, they lash out. Violently.

Think that’s an exaggeration? History says otherwise.

From 2005 to 2010, anger levels in the US rose by as much as 3xs. And that increase coincided with the great recession.

And aggression levels rose significantly during covid. Where they remained really high well after lock down had ended and people went back to work.

When it comes to safety, here’s what you need to be thinking about, whether it’s for your employees safety or for your own:

• Communication: There’s safety in numbers. So being able to communicate to others when there’s a threat to safety is critical to your safety and to your employees’ safety. 
• Situational Awareness: When it comes to safety, no skill is more important than situational awareness. It’s the only skill that gives you the ability to recognize a potential threat to your safety before it becomes an actual threat to your safety. This allows you to avoid it completely, or to be prepared to deal with it if you cannot.
• De-escalation: De-escalation is about redirecting someone thoughts away from harming you. It’s about moving them out of a single fixed mindset. It’s comprised of reflective listening, speaking calmly, using your own body language to convey calm, and reading an angry person’s body language to determine if there’s a chance to de-escalate.
• Changing the dynamics: Most attacks utilize the element of surprise. The attack is carried out in a way that is designed to catch you off guard in order to give the attacker the maximum advantage over you. But, if you can take away that advantage, you can force the attacker to have to recalibrate. And if that happens, you’ll be in a much safer place. Equal ground.
• Self-defense: During an attack, the burden for your safety shifts entirely to you. There is no police to help you. No cavalry to come to your rescue. It’s all on you. But, you don’t need to know a ton of different techniques to protect yourself. It’s about learning a few techniques well enough to apply them automatically. 
• Confidence in yourself: None of this will work unless you believe that you can keep yourself safe. With confidence in yourself and your abilit to keep yourself safe, which you achieve through practice, you can apply all the skills you need to keep yourself safe in any and every situation. 

The Business Owner’s and Professionals Personal Safety guide will help you to make sure that you know what to do to keep yourself safe from violence, and my California Workplace Violence Prevention Checklist are two great resources to help you keep yourself, your employees, and your business safer from violence.