How IT Professionals Can Safely Talk about the Government Shutdown

Like every other field, the information technology field is attempting to divine whether it will suffer in the wake of the government shutdown.  Of course, IT professionals have a lot of reservations about talking about a topic like this at their IT jobs.  It’s a deeply uncomfortable thing to discuss with coworkers, never mind the fact that IT recruiters Boston to IT recruiters CA would vehemently state that IT contractors avoid such discussions with their coworkers or IT managers.

So what is the best way for IT consultants to deal with conversations, like one about the government shutdown, that could be veritable minefields in the office?  There are two routes to take.  The most obvious, of course, is to simply not participate. Finding some way to leave the conversation (hopefully in a way that feels organic, and not abrupt), is probably most common.  The second route is to take a page from Megan Garber’s observations in today’s version of The Atlantic, and find the elements that are not politically, racially, religiously, economically, etc- charged.  Like the panda-cam that has been shut off due the government shutdown.  Find the universally agreeable element, and stick to that like pandas to a bamboo tree.

 

How IT Professionals Can Safely Talk about the Government Shutdown

Like every other field, the information technology field is attempting to divine whether it will suffer in the wake of the government shutdown.  Of course, IT professionals have a lot of reservations about talking about a topic like this at their IT jobs.  It’s a deeply uncomfortable thing to discuss with coworkers, never mind the fact that IT recruiters Boston to IT recruiters CA would vehemently state that IT contractors avoid such discussions with their coworkers or IT managers.

So what is the best way for IT consultants to deal with conversations, like one about the government shutdown, that could be veritable minefields in the office?  There are two routes to take.  The most obvious, of course, is to simply not participate. Finding some way to leave the conversation (hopefully in a way that feels organic, and not abrupt), is probably most common.  The second route is to take a page from Megan Garber’s observations in today’s version of The Atlantic, and find the elements that are not politically, racially, religiously, economically, etc- charged.  Like the panda-cam that has been shut off due the government shutdown.  Find the universally agreeable element, and stick to that like pandas to a bamboo tree.