How the end of the Twinkie may impact your job search

The news was a buzz with the announcement that Hostess was shutting down. If you were watching on television news shows or even reading updates on Facebook, the consensus was one of two things.

There was laughter over the end of the Twinkie or the more stoic crowd focused on the wellness factor and a few noted that it was union demands that caused the demise when they couldn’t come to an agreement.

Laughter on the end of the Twinkie

On the first note, though Twinkie and the Hostess cupcake are certainly the most iconic of the Hostess brand, there certainly were multiple products made by the company.

The Wellness perspective: Was the Twinkie and the product line to blame?

You can get a better look at the brand spectrum here but the link may not work long because the ordering links already have an announcement of the shutdown.The Nature’s Pride link announces:

Hostess Brands is Closed.

We are sorry to announce that Hostess Brands, Inc. has been forced by a Bakers Union strike to shut down all operations and sell all company assets. For more information, go to hostessbrands.info. Thank you for all of your loyalty and support over the years.

The main brands included: Hostess, Wonder Bread, Nature’s Pride, Merita, Dolly Madison, Drakes, Home Pride, and Beef Steak.

Though the Twinkie might have been a good focus for laughter, Hostess obviously also produced other products that were more inline with people who look to good nutrition.

The loss of jobs affects more than the Hostess workers

You can blame the union for its stance or the management for lack of negotiation but the reality is that 18,500 or more people lost their job yesterday. The company shut the doors.

When this happens, no matter what the product is or whether we think there are better products or healthier products on the market, it affects us all.

Impact on you, the job seeker

You may not care if you never eat another Twinkie but if you are a job seeker, there are now 18,500 more in your market. Oh, but you’re not a baker, you say. No, but all companies have a broad spectrum of employees.

I am sure that the 18,500 jobs lost included bakers, but they also included:

• production workers
• shipping specialists
• dispatchers
• sales representatives
• purchasing agents
• human resource personnel
• marketing
• public relations
• graphic designers
• web designers
• administrative assistants
• truck drivers
• management

The loss of a company impacts the whole job market

Any time a company downsizes or closes, it affects the rest of the market. As these 18,500 people come into the job market, the market will change. Some of them will look for similar roles, some will opt to go back to school and be retrained, some will transition to a new field, and some will choose to relocate, perhaps to your neighborhood, to find a new job.

At the same time, loss of jobs has further impact on the rest of the economy. It affects housing, retail shopping, restaurants, recreation, technology, and everything else. It has been a wild ride on the job market so every loss impacts every job seeker or potential job seeker so though media may have made fun of the end of the Twinkie, I see a bigger issue that really isn’t much of a joke at all.

To get your job search working for you, simply click here!

Photo Credit