By PAUL HENG

THE last time job losses and the dreaded 'R' word were the flavour of the year was during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Then, the impact of job losses was felt mainly in Asian countries. In my entire working life of over two decades, I've never experienced or read about what we are currently experiencing and will continue to experience for some time to come.

This time, the impact of financial and economic challenges is on a global scale - caused mainly by what former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan describes as a 'credit tsunami'.

There are always different perspectives, different lessons to learn from any one event. One of the lessons, at least for me, during the Asian financial crisis was that it jolted many of us, especially Generation Y executives, into realising that life is not always a bed of roses.

For the first time in their adult lives, many of these executives witnessed how one parent, and sometimes both parents, lost the very jobs they had held for many, many years.

For once, they experienced how the tightening of the proverbial belt feels.

For once, they saw with their own eyes the pain and agony their parents went through as each was shown the 'exit' door, and having to leave companies they had spend almost their entire lives working in.

For once, they saw their usually confident father slowly, but surely, lose his sense of self-esteem and self-confidence as he could not secure alternative employment at the same level of seniority and pay.

To me, this was the most significant and positive lesson arising from that particular crisis.

Fast forward to 2008 - and deja vu - it looks like many of our fellow citizens will be going through rough times again. The only difference is that it is probably going to be worse this time. Have Singaporeans learnt to react to involuntary job losses better, compared to a decade or so ago? Yes, and no.

Yes, we have all learnt that there may not be such a thing as corporate loyalty these days. We all have to manage our own careers, and be prepared for the day when our bosses give us our marching orders.

But because the economy bounced back and pay rises and bonuses headed northwards again, some of us forgot the lesson, and conveniently overlooked the need to manage our careers. Back to square one!

Here's the reality - so long as you are on the payroll, and not the majority shareholder of the company, there is always the possibility of losing your job, even if you had been the one who had been instrumental in appointing the very set of board members who decided to fire you, as one prominent US CEO found out some years ago.

Given such turbulent times, and with prospects of job losses looming over the horizon, perhaps it is time again to revisit the need to proactively manage our careers. Among other important things, besides maintaining your network, and having a camera-ready resume, is the need to have a Plan B. A Plan B is a plan that you activate when Plan A expires, that is when you are fired from your current job.