February 24, 2004 9:36 AM

A blurring picture
Posted by Douglas Eisenhartat 9:36 AM

OK, it's not about Boston, but it's a story close to my heart. If you grew up in Rochester, NY, as I did, you were always aware that the Great Yellow Father - Eastman Kodak - dominated the business and community landscape. But times, technologies, and consumer habits change, and now the venerable, paternalistic, 125-year old company is struggling to get focused in a digital world:

Kodak is trying to make a comeback from being the world's largest producer of a product that's quickly becoming obsolete: film. The city of Rochester, N.Y., where Kodak dominates the local job market, is also coming to grips with the reality that the advent of digital photography and other advances in imaging technology may have left Kodak behind. In the early 1980s, Kodak employed about 60,000 in Rochester. That number could plunge below 15,000 in three years.

It makes you wonder about any business and its vulnerability, not just the dot-com's but the seemingly stable, staple, and unassailable, such as Gillette. One lesson made clear by this audio segment from PRI's Marketplace radio show (scroll down to the link entitled "Kodak's hometown struggles to avoid obsolescence"): you can't leave your career management in the hands of your employer anymore. You are master of your own fate and need to make certain that you have the transferrable - and up-to-date - skills that will keep you employable in an ever-evolving workplace.
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